--- title: Preparing Industrial Areas for the Next Generation of Investment in Lappeenranta, Finland description: The City of Lappeenranta in Eastern Finland is proactively developing industrial areas to attract future investments by enhancing infrastructure and addressing the needs of modern industries. image: https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hubfs/Mustola%204.jpg --- [![Business-Lappeenranta-imatra-Region-combo-logo-RGB-valko-vihrea-oranssi](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hs-fs/hubfs/Logot/Business-Lappeenranta-imatra-Region-combo-logo-RGB-valko-vihrea-oranssi.png?width=192&height=60&name=Business-Lappeenranta-imatra-Region-combo-logo-RGB-valko-vihrea-oranssi.png "Business-Lappeenranta-imatra-Region-combo-logo-RGB-valko-vihrea-oranssi")](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/?hsLang=en) - [Home](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/) - [Themes](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes) Show submenu for Themes - [Energy](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/energy) - [ICT](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/ict) - [Pilot environments](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/piloting-possibilities) - [Bioeconomy](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/bioeconomy) - [News](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/news) - [Services](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/services) - [Contact us](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/yhteystiedot) - [Home](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/) - [Themes](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes) Show submenu for Themes - [Energy](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/energy) - [ICT](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/ict) - [Pilot environments](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/piloting-possibilities) - [Bioeconomy](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/themes/bioeconomy) - [News](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/news) - [Services](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/services) - [Contact us](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/yhteystiedot) Haku Hae - - [English](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/news/preparing-industrial-areas-for-the-next-generation-of-investment-in-lappeenranta) - [Suomi](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/artikkelit/lappeenrannan-teollisuusalueita-kehitetään-seuraavaa-kasvuvaihetta-varten) - [Contact us](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/yhteystiedot#yhteydenotto) - - [English](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/news/preparing-industrial-areas-for-the-next-generation-of-investment-in-lappeenranta) - [Suomi](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/artikkelit/lappeenrannan-teollisuusalueita-kehitetään-seuraavaa-kasvuvaihetta-varten) - [Contact us](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/yhteystiedot#yhteydenotto) Haku Hae ![Preparing Industrial Areas for the Next Generation of Investment in Lappeenranta, Finland](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hubfs/Mustola%204.jpg) 5.10.2026 | [Energy and Green electrification](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/en/news/tag/energy-and-green-electrification) # Preparing Industrial Areas for the Next Generation of Investment in Lappeenranta, Finland The City of Lappeenranta in Eastern Finland is proactively developing industrial areas to attract future investments by enhancing infrastructure and addressing the needs of modern industries. ## *Share* - [mailto:?&subject=Preparing%20Industrial%20Areas%20for%20the%20Next%20Generation%20of%20Investment%20in%20Lappeenranta,%20Finland&body=Preparing%20Industrial%20Areas%20for%20the%20Next%20Generation%20of%20Investment%20in%20Lappeenranta,%20Finland%0A(https%3A%2F%2Fbusinesssouthkarelia.fi%2Fen%2Fnews%2Fpreparing-industrial-areas-for-the-next-generation-of-investment-in-lappeenranta)](mailto:?&subject=Preparing%20Industrial%20Areas%20for%20the%20Next%20Generation%20of%20Investment%20in%20Lappeenranta,%20Finland&body=Preparing%20Industrial%20Areas%20for%20the%20Next%20Generation%20of%20Investment%20in%20Lappeenranta,%20Finland%0A(https%3A%2F%2Fbusinesssouthkarelia.fi%2Fen%2Fnews%2Fpreparing-industrial-areas-for-the-next-generation-of-investment-in-lappeenranta)) - - - **Industrial investments are changing, and so are companies’ requirements for potential locations. In Lappeenranta, an international university and industrial city in Southeast Finland, business and industrial areas are now being assessed from a long-term investment perspective: what each area can offer, what types of industrial activity they are best suited for, and what needs to be developed today to enable future growth.** For industrial companies, access to electricity and water, logistics, data connectivity, zoning, environmental conditions and opportunities for expansion can all be decisive factors in an investment decision. This is particularly evident in **energy-intensive and next-generation industrial investments**. Clean electrification, the hydrogen economy, new bioeconomy processes, data centres and other emerging industries may require very different operating environments from those traditionally offered by conventional industrial areas. **Lappeenranta is therefore taking a more proactive approach to industrial area development.** The city’s key business and industrial areas are being assessed in terms of their current status, future potential and the development measures required to support new investment. The aim is to create clearer profiles for the areas and establish a development vision extending to 2035. The work brings together land use, infrastructure, zoning and the practical needs of companies. For international investors, the objective is clear: to improve investment readiness and reduce uncertainty around future locations. According to Project Manager **Hanna Anttonen**, the work is fundamentally about anticipation. – Industrial areas need to be developed before a major investor comes looking for a site. Time is an important factor in corporate location decisions, so many of the critical questions should already have been considered before an investment project reaches the site selection stage. Our task is to look several years ahead, identify what kinds of companies different areas could serve and understand what their investments would require from the location. ## Different industrial areas serve different investment needs One of the key observations is straightforward: **Lappeenranta’s industrial areas should be developed  as an integrated whole while taking into account the distinct characteristics of each area. .** Each area has its own combination of infrastructure, land availability, logistics, surrounding industry and development potential. The city is therefore examining how the areas can complement one another and support different types of investment. The starting point is to identify the current role, specialisation and future development potential of each strategically important industrial area. **Mustola Business and Logistics Park** is a good example. Located in Lappeenranta, Southeast Finland, it combines **an established industrial and logistics community with port, rail and road connections and significant potential for hydrogen, chemicals, circular economy and other energy-intensive industries.** Its location close to major forest industry operations is also strategically relevant. Large sources of biogenic carbon dioxide in the surrounding region could create opportunities for value chains based on synthetic fuels, methanol and other forms of CO₂ utilisation. A technical study carried out in Mustola in 2025 examined electricity supply, water and wastewater infrastructure, waste heat utilisation and the transfer of hydrogen, oxygen, e-methane and carbon dioxide. According to the study, **biogenic CO₂ from nearby pulp and paper industry facilities could represent a significant resource for Power-to-X production.** At the same time, long-term investment readiness requires continuous infrastructure development. In Mustola, key development topics include additional electricity capacity, industrial water solutions and improvements to road and rail infrastructure. – Credibility in investment attraction comes from understanding not only the strengths of our industrial areas but also their development needs. It is not enough to explain what is already available. We also need to be able to tell an investor what is possible today, what can be developed and on what timescale. ## Local companies bring practical knowledge into long-term planning Technical studies provide essential information on electricity, water, soil conditions, transport connections and zoning. However, they do not fully explain how an industrial area functions in everyday business operations. **Companies already operating in these areas provide practical knowledge about logistics, infrastructure bottlenecks, expansion needs and the kinds of new solutions that could enable further business growth.** For this reason, companies are being involved in planning the future of the industrial areas. Workshops are one way to gather their views, but the broader objective is to make business dialogue part of continuous industrial area development. The aim is to build development perspectives extending to 2035 together with companies, municipalities and other key stakeholders, and then translate these into concrete short-, medium- and long-term actions. – We particularly need information from companies that the city cannot obtain from maps or technical studies alone. Where are companies planning to invest? What is limiting growth today? What kind of operating environment would serve them five or ten years from now? If these needs are identified early enough, there is also a real opportunity to influence the conditions for future growth, Anttonen says. ## Building on long-term regional preparation Lappeenranta’s current work forms part of a broader effort in Southeast Finland to prepare for the green transition, industrial renewal and new investment. In 2023, the **Vetyä, virtaa Kaakkoon** initiative brought together the Lappeenranta and Imatra region, the Kouvola region, the Kotka–Hamina region and LUT University to examine the conditions for renewable energy and hydrogen economy investments in Southeast Finland. The work mapped potential investment locations and strengthened the participating cities’ readiness to accommodate new types of energy and industrial projects. Since then, the focus has moved increasingly from identifying broad regional potential towards **site-specific information, technical assessments and concrete investment readiness.** The current **Promoting Clean Transition Investments in Industrial Areas** project is one of the tools supporting this development. The City of Lappeenranta is implementing the project together with Imatra Region Development Company KEHY Ltd during 2025–2027. Through the project, several strategically important industrial areas in Southeast Finland are being assessed and a stronger knowledge base is being developed to guide future infrastructure, land-use and investment-readiness decisions. ## The objective: investment-ready industrial locations The objective extends beyond any single development project. **Lappeenranta aims to build an industrial operating environment in Finland where existing companies can expand, new investors can establish operations and future infrastructure needs are anticipated well before an investment decision is made.** For international companies evaluating locations, this means increasingly transparent information on industrial sites, infrastructure, development plans and the practical conditions for investment. – The best outcome would be that, a few years from now, we can look back at the decisions we made and see that we prepared at the right time. Developing industrial areas is long-term work. The decisions made today will influence the kinds of investments Lappeenranta can attract well into the 2030s. More information:  Hanna Anttonen, Project Manager The City of Lappeenranta ### ![Projektipäällikkö Hanna Anttonen, Lappeenrannan yrityspalvelut](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hs-fs/hubfs/Image%20(15).jpg?width=246&height=328&name=Image%20(15).jpg) ## Saattaisit myös pitää ### [![Preparing Industrial Areas for the Next Generation of Investment in Lappeenranta, Finland](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hubfs/Mustola%204.jpg) *2.10.2026 | Energia ja vihreä sähkö* Lappeenrannan teollisuusalueita kehitetään seuraavaa kasvuvaihetta varten](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/artikkelit/lappeenrannan-teollisuusalueita-kehitet%C3%A4%C3%A4n-seuraavaa-kasvuvaihetta-varten?hsLang=en) ### [![Preparing Industrial Areas for the Next Generation of Investment in Lappeenranta, Finland](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hubfs/maisema-web-1.jpg) *7.4.2026 | ICT ja datatalous* Poikkeuksellinen datakeskusinvestointi Lappeenrantaan – Nebius toimijaksi Pajarilaan rakennettavaan tekoälyprojektiin](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/artikkelit/poikkeuksellinen-datakeskusinvestointi-lappeenrantaan-nebius-toimijaksi-pajarilaan-rakennettavaan-teko%C3%A4lyprojektiin?hsLang=en) ### [![Preparing Industrial Areas for the Next Generation of Investment in Lappeenranta, Finland](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hubfs/lab-biofine-verkko-790-x-444-px-6.png.webp) *23.3.2026 | Biotalous* Etelä-Karjalassa rakennetaan biotalouden innovaatio- ja kehitysympäristöä](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/artikkelit/etel%C3%A4-karjala-rakentaa-biotalouden-osaamiskeskittym%C3%A4%C3%A4-uusi-laboratorioanalyytikkokoulutus-vahvistaa-teollisuuden-osaajapohjaa?hsLang=en) Contact info Helena Laitinen City of Lappeenranta tel. 045 602 0140 helena.laitinen@lappeenranta.fi   Janne Saharinen Imatran Seudun Kehitysyhtiö Oy Puh. 050 584 6294 janne.saharinen@kehy.fi **Sitemap** - [Etusivu](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi) - [Teemat](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/teemat) - [Artikkelit](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/artikkelit) - [Yritystarinat](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/yritystarinat) - [Ota yhteyttä](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/yhteystiedot) [![Business-Lappeenranta-Region-logo-RGB-valkoinen](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hubfs/Logos/Business-Lappeenranta-Region-logo-RGB-valkoinen.svg "Business-Lappeenranta-Region-logo-RGB-valkoinen")](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/?hsLang=en) [![BIR\_logo\_logo\_oranssi-valkoinen](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hs-fs/hubfs/Logot/BIR_logo_logo_oranssi-valkoinen.png?width=153&height=100&name=BIR_logo_logo_oranssi-valkoinen.png "BIR_logo_logo_oranssi-valkoinen")](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/?hsLang=en) ![Rahoittajalogot-yhdessa-EAKR](https://businesssouthkarelia.fi/hubfs/Logos/Rahoittajalogot-yhdessa-EAKR.jpg "Rahoittajalogot-yhdessa-EAKR") Sivusto on luotu osana "Kotisatama Etelä-Karjalaan - Maakunnallisen sijoittumismyynnin kehittäminen" -hanketta. 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