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Finland will showcase the power of equine poop, with plans to use horse manure to generate 100% of the electricity for this month’s Helsinki International Horse Show.

The electricity used at this year’s show will be produced entirely with horse manure at the Järvenpää power plant, run by clean energy company Fortum.

The electricity consumption of the event, to be held at the Helsinki Ice Hall, will be about 140 megawatt-hours, and the origin of the electricity will be verified by the Guarantee of Origin system maintained by the country’s electricity transmission grid operator Fingrid.

Producing the energy needed for the event requires the annual manure output of 14 horses.

It is understood to be the first time in the world that the electricity for a major horse show will be produced entirely with horse manure.

“I am really proud that electricity produced with horse manure can be utilised for an event that is important to equestrian fans and the horse sector,” said Anssi Paalanen, who is vice-president of the HorsePower division within Fortum.

“It is great that Finland’s biggest and best-known horse show is a forerunner in energy and environmental issues.”

Fortum HorsePower is a bedding and manure management service for stables, with the manure generated at the stables transported for use in energy production.

The service has been operating in the Uusimaa region for a couple of years, and the service area is expanding all the time. In addition to the Helsinki metropolitan area, it now covers much of southern and western Finland.

The Fortum HorsePower service was launched this autumn in Sweden, where there are already close to 3000 horses leaving green hoof prints and producing energy through the service.

During the event, Fortum HorsePower will deliver wood-based bedding for the 250 or so horses that will be staying in temporary stalls at the Helsinki Ice Hall.

The manure-bedding mixture that is generated will be transported to Fortum’s Järvenpää power plant where it will be utilised in energy production.

An estimated 135 tonnes of manure-bedding mixture will be generated during the event.

The event director for the show, Tom Gordin, said it was great to be involved in the electricity project.

“Overall, the concept is fascinating and creates tremendous opportunities for the entire horse sector in Europe. This is also an important part of our own Horse Show Jumps Green environmental project.

The show will be held from October 18-22.