TEK and TFiF chose Polar Night Energy, ABB’s SynRM-VSD work group and Sitowise Ltd Landscape as the winners of this year’s ITU Technology Awards.

Polar Night Energy's Sand Battery – the winner of this year’s Breakthrough Award – provides a solution for storing thermal energy. It reduces the need to generate energy by combustion and enhances electricity grid stability. The technology enables storing energy for longer than with electric batteries. The Sand Battery can be used to electrify and decarbonize a variety of industrial processes and district heating networks.

ABB has developed a synchronous reluctance motor (SynRM) and variable speed drive (VSD) package that gives a significant boost to the energy efficiency of electric motors. According to the award jury, this proves that businesses, too, engage in cutting-edge research.

Sitowise Ltd Landscape, which has offices in eight different towns and cities in Finland, has built a strong team spirit. Their ways of working have also been adopted by the company's other divisions. The Forerunners Award jury praised Sitowise Ltd Landscape for fostering a positive atmosphere at work and for actively contributing to making the industry better.

The 70 newly elected councillors represent approximately 85,000 members in TEK’s decision-making. Unity and Teekkari Spirit 2 received five additional seats, the Greens three, the Left two and the Finns Party one. The average age of the council members is 48, and 51 % of the councillors are women.

TEK members elected 70 councillors to represent them in TEK’s decision-making during the 2026–2029 term. The National Coalition Party lost five seats in the council elections but still remains the largest group with 14 seats. Unity and Teekkari Spirit 2, The Greens and Left gained additional seats. The newcomer, the Finns Party, won one seat. A total of 12,216 votes were cast, and voter turnout was 22.1%.