Customer

Taaleri Energia is a Helsinki-based renewable energy fund manager and a subsidiary of the publicly listed Taaleri Group. It manages five private equity funds focused on wind, solar, and battery assets, and oversees a development portfolio of 9.3 GW across Europe and the US.

Taaleri Energia is one of Finland’s largest domestic wind power producers and is committed to investing in scalable renewable solutions that support the energy transition, while delivering strong financial returns. The 30 MW / 36 MWh Paistinkulma BESS project in Lempäälä plays a central role in this strategy, designed to deliver strong financial performance while supporting system flexibility. The asset is also built with future expansion in mind, with the potential of doubling its capacity.

Challenge

When Taaleri Energia committed to its first grid-scale BESS in 2023, it became clear that a fully automated, AI-based approach could deliver differentiated long-term value, as well as enabling access to all available Finnish ancillary and wholesale markets. 

While it is typical for BESS assets in Finland to participate in FCR-D and FCR-N markets, achieving full return on investment requires participation in all markets. The markets evolve quickly, and with shifting price spreads and growing volatility, value increasingly comes from aFRR, mFRR, and wholesale trading. 

Navigating the onboarding across all seven markets poses a significant operational barrier. Bringing a 30 MW / 36 MWh battery into full participation demands operational expertise from grid integration and compliance, to accurate forecasting and daily trading execution. 

The complexity does not stop at the market access: continuous profitable performance in a multimarket environment demands precise forecasting, immediate responsiveness to price signals, and control over cycle count and degradation to protect the asset’s long-term value.

After evaluating different BESS optimizers, Taaleri Energia’s team chose Capalo Zeus VPP for its AI-powered trading, multimarket optimization, and efficient pooling model.

Finland’s first grid-scale BESS on all Nordic markets

The Paistinkulma project was energized in November 2024, and thanks to the well-established partnership between Taaleri Energia and Capalo AI, optimization and trading via the Zeus VPP platform were ready to begin immediately upon commissioning.

While wholesale trading started from day one, ancillary market participation required a series of prequalification steps with Fingrid (TSO). Each market, FFR, FCR-N, FCR-D up/down, aFRR, and mFRR, has its own test procedures and technical requirements. Supported by the project EPC provider, Merus Power, Capalo AI managed the complete prequalification workflow as part of its Zeus VPP service offering, ensuring compliance and minimizing delays.

Capalo AI’s phased market entry model allowed the Paistinkulma project to start generating revenues as soon as each market approval was granted. Even as prequalification continued for additional markets, Taaleri Energia had full visibility into live trading performance through the Zeus VPP dashboard.

In March 2025, the Paistinkulma project became the first BESS in Finland to participate in all ancillary and wholesale markets: FFR, FCR-N, FCR-D up/down, aFRR, mFRR, Spot, and Intraday. Within the first three months of full market operation, the asset provided 75% higher revenues than the industry benchmark (FCR-N & FCR-D).

Capalo Zeus VPP – A comprehensive turnkey solution for Paistinkulma

To navigate the complexity of full market integration, optimization, and trading, Taaleri Energia leveraged Capalo Zeus VPP, a comprehensive turnkey solution designed to streamline market onboarding and maximize BESS lifetime value. 

For Taaleri Energia’s Paistinkulma project, Capalo AI delivers:

• Balance Responsible Party (BRP) Service – Acting as the BRP towards the grid operator and other necessary parties, submitting daily energy schedules to TSO, and ensuring the settlement of transactions.
• Asset Connection Service – Ensuring real-time communication and power management.
• Route-to-Market (RTM) Service – Facilitating market access, asset prequalifications, data exchange, and bidding processes.
• AI-Driven Trading and Optimization – Maximizing lifetime revenue and efficiency across all available electricity markets as part of our VPP pool.
• Graphical User Interface & Reporting – Delivering transparent insights into trading and operations.  

Capalo Zeus VPP ensures optimal asset performance throughout its lifetime with real-time, AI-based, and fully automated trading. With its ultra-fast intraday trader, Capalo Zeus VPP, empowers Taaleri Energia to capture volatility-driven revenues and stay competitive – now and in the future.

Outcomes

Capalo AI has successfully brought Taaleri Energia’s 30MW/36MWh battery into every Nordic market, making it the first Finnish BESS to trade across all seven ancillary and wholesale markets.

In its first quarter of full market participation, the asset’s revenues were 75% higher than the industry reference point. Over half of that income came from aFRR, mFRR, and wholesale markets – a clear proof that revenues beyond FCR-N and FCR-D are crucial.

The asset consistently outperformed the FCR-D and FCR-N benchmark, even as cycle counts and degradation remained tightly controlled, maximizing long-term asset value. The early stage has provided Taaleri Energia with significant revenues, complete transparency into trading operations, and no day-to-day operational burden.