From May 26-27th 2025, INTERSTORES partners gathered in Helsinki, Finland, for a hands-on technical workshop hosted by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Vantaa Energia. The workshop brought together key representatives from the consortium to deepen collaboration and discuss technical developments in the field of seasonal thermal energy storage (sTES).
A central highlight of the visit was a guided tour of the Vantaan Energia waste-to-energy plant, one of Finland’s flagship facilities for energy recovery from waste. The visit provided a valuable opportunity to explore the integration of waste incineration with thermal energy storage systems.
In particular, participants were introduced to Varanto – VECTES (Vantaa Energia Cavern Thermal Energy Storage), a innovative demosite that will become the world’s largest cavern thermal energy storage facility, with a capacity of approximately 1 million cubic meters. Once operational, VECTES will play a pivotal role in Finland’s transition to a more sustainable, resilient, and decarbonised energy system.
This in-person workshop enabled partners to exchange technical insights, align on progress at the demo sites, and reinforce the shared ambition of INTERSTORES – to advance cost-effective, environmentally friendly sTES technologies across Europe.