Public Business Support and Funding

TABLE OF CONTENTS PREVIOUS CHAPTER A COMPANY'S LOCATION AND BUSINESS PREMISES NEXT CHAPTER ORGANISING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PREMISES AND FOR INDUSTRIAL OPERATIONS In Finland electricity and water connections are quite easy to obtain. There are ready-to-use interfaces and connec- tions for electricity and water in business premises and in new building lots. You can tender out your consumable electricity with different providers but note that you still need to pay for local electricity company transmission fees. Water is a part of municipal services and therefore consumption prices can vary remarkably in different areas. The Finnish Energy Authority promotes and monitors the energy market and advocates the reduction of emissions, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. Oper- ating under the administrative sector of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Energy Authority veri- fies the functionality of the converging electricity and gas markets and monitors network service pricing. Case example: When choosing premises for your business, it is important to follow industry-specific requirements and guidelines. For example, in the case of a café or restaurant business it is important to choose premises that are deemed suitable for café or restaurant use by building inspection. For a café or a restaurant, the ventilation and air condition- ing systems need to be efficient enough to accommodate people inside the premises. Modifying an existing venti- lation system or building a new one can be quite costly (more than €15,000) if the premises have not been used for operating a café or restaurant before. In such a case, it would be more cost effective to find a place where such systems already exist. The same goes for the electricity connection as installation work is quite expensive in Finland and can only be undertaken by certi- fied specialists. A sufficient pre-existing electricity system might save you as much as €10,000 in installation costs. A café or restaurant is also required to provide enough re- strooms for customers: one restroom for every 25 custom- ers. PRICES OF WATER 3.32€/m³ cold 6.36€/m³ warm Average water prices in Helsinki area 2021 PRICES OF ENERGY 7.59cents/kWh Average nationwide energy price in Finland in H2/2020 for non-household consumers 56 99

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