Two companies are in the starting blocks for building new factories in Vaasa.
They are British Johnson Matthey and Norwegian Freyr.
The British have come the furthest, where 50 hectares are now being prepared for their factory, which will build components for batteries.
Freyr's factory building will be even larger, 180 hectares.
With ancillary industries that will be linked to battery production, it is estimated that the area will be at least 500 hectares, with the opportunity to grow.
Wind power boom
Wind power is growing strongly in Finland and last year more than half of Finnish electricity came from renewable sources.
The Gigavasa area is strategically located to connect the energy-intensive activities on the Finnish main grid.
As large parts of Finnish wind power are produced in the immediate area, the battery companies can be offered green electricity.
- It is a very good place to build energy-intensive industry.
Fingrid, which owns the main grid, believes that it is only good if there is more consumption in the Vaasa area, says Hans-Alexander Öst, development director of Vaasa Elektriska.
"We are prepared"
Gigavasa has been planned for over five years and even though the shovel has just been put in the ground, the city is well prepared and the energy sector in Vaasa has grown enormously in recent years.
Around 160 different companies operating in the energy sector already exist today.
- In 2000, there were 5,000 jobs in the energy cluster.
Ten years later, there were 11,000 jobs.
We are prepared for this, says Tomas Häyry, City Director of Vaasa.
See the factory area emerge in the clip above.