All the electricity used at the Helsinki International Horse Show, which hosted yesterday’s Longines FEI World Cup™ Show Jumping qualifier, was generated with horse manure. Over 150 megawatt hours of energy was created from the 100 tons of manure collected from competing horses during the four-day event in the Finnish capital.

Ireland was represented at the event by Tipperary’s Denis Lynch, Clare’s Eoin McMahon and Derry’s David Simpson with all of their competing horses contributing towards the unique ‘Horse Powered’ energy output.

The manure-to-energy system developed by Fortum, an international company specialising in electricity generation, heat production and waste recycling, met all the equestrian event’s electricity needs, including lighting, scoreboards and cell phone charging stations. The surplus energy that was generated went back into the national grid to heat homes in the Helsinki area.

What started off as a desk project in 2014 is now a resounding endorsement of the power of horse manure as a reliable source of renewable energy, not just at equestrian competitions but also for local communities.

“The manure-to-energy system holds immense potential for countries with large horse populations and has shown that out-of-the-box solutions are needed if we are to move away from our reliance on fossil fuels,” Fortum HorsePower Vice President Anssi Paalanen said.