{"slug":"using-data-to-power-fuel-the-transition-to-a-carbon-neutral-world","url":"https://findausecase.com/use-cases/using-data-to-power-fuel-the-transition-to-a-carbon-neutral-world","title":"Using data to power-fuel the transition to a carbon-neutral world","description":"Helen, Helsinki's energy utility, built a centralized data and AI platform on Databricks to power forecasting and optimization models for its district heating system serving about 90% of Helsinki's population, processing real-time streaming sensor and IoT data to optimize distributed energy resources and EV charging placement as part of a plan to cut carbon emissions over 80% by decommissioning coal plants.","company":"Helen","industry":"Energy","country":"Finland","aiCapabilities":["Predictive Analytics","Machine Learning"],"technology":["Databricks Data + AI Platform","Delta Lake","Spark Declarative Pipelines","Lakeflow Jobs","Agent Bricks","Unity Catalog"],"deployment":"Public Cloud","problemStatement":"As Helen moves toward renewable energy, its energy system has become far more complex, relying on distributed energy resources like heat pumps, waste energy recovery, electric boilers and industrial by-products, requiring Helen to turn to AI and data-driven solutions to manage this complexity.","solutionApproach":"Helen developed a centralized data and AI platform using Databricks that powers forecasting and optimization models processing streaming data from hundreds of sensors and IoT devices to make real-time adjustments, enabling improvements ranging from predicting optimal EV charging station placement to optimizing energy system flexibility with virtual and physical energy storage.","businessValue":"Decommissioning coal plants for this AI-driven system will reduce Helen's carbon footprint by over 80%, and even small efficiency improvements from the platform translate into substantial cost savings and reduced carbon emissions.","evidence":{"band":"high"},"sourceUrl":"https://www.databricks.com/customers/helen","dates":{"publishedAt":"2026-09-09T09:01:16.314Z","publishedAtSource":"pipeline","updatedAt":"2026-09-09T09:01:16.314Z"},"license":"Open for reading and citing with a link to https://findausecase.com/use-cases/using-data-to-power-fuel-the-transition-to-a-carbon-neutral-world. Bulk republication requires permission."}