Minister of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, Tuula Haatainen visited Soletair Power on 27 August 2021 to familiarize herself with the three cleantech companies founded by serial inventor Ari Piispanen: Afstor Ltd., Soletair Power Ltd, and Elstor Ltd.
Prestigious guests also included Anneli Kiljunen (Member of Parliament, SDP), Nina Malm (Member of Parliament, SDP), Satu Sikanen (Regional Mayor, South Karelia), Tuomo Sallinen (City Secretary, City of Lappeenranta), and Markku Heinonen (Development Manager, City of Lappeenranta).
Founder Ari Piispanen and CEO Petri Laakso welcomed the visitors and the tour continued to the laboratories, where Ari and Petri explained the various applications of Afstor, Soletair Power, and Elstor Oy’s technologies.
The Minister had a chance to witness the different applications of technology in recovering the forests in Africa utilizing the solar cooker from Afstor, capturing carbon dioxide from the air by Soletair Power, and producing steams at low cost from Elstor. Ari and Petri also discussed emission taxes, the importance of renewable energy, and the prospect of the carbon capture industry.
Minister Haatainen was impressed with the companies’ climate and employment impact: companies already employ twenty people and are bound to employ dozens – if not hundreds – more in the near future.
