Tekres Group to Harness Geoenergy for Cooling Buildings in Indonesia
In Finland, geoenergy is widely used for heating buildings, but in Indonesia, its potential for cooling remains largely untapped. Now, Tekres Group, based in Rauma, is set to explore this opportunity with funding from the Developing Markets Platform (DevPlat).
In traditional driven piling, prefabricated piles, such as reinforced concrete piles, are driven into the ground to serve as building foundation. Jorma Leino, the founder of Tekres Group, has observed piling sites for decades and questioned why these piles couldn’t also be used to harness geoenergy.
“The earth is the world’s largest battery, and piles could act as its power plugs”, Leino explains.
With this vision, he developed the energy pile – a reinforced concrete pile integrated with an energy system that can provide both heating and cooling for buildings.
“For end users, energy piles offer an eco-friendly way to reduce electricity consumption and cut heating and cooling costs,” Leino summarizes.
Indonesia’s major cities face a growing energy challenge due to the high demand for air conditioning. Rising temperatures and humidity levels increase cooling needs, while rapid urbanization and a growing middle class are pushing air conditioner usage to new heights. This, in turn, places a strain on energy production and increases the country’s carbon footprint.
Indonesia is one of the world’s leading producers of geothermal energy, but utilizing ground energy directly for cooling buildings is still a new concept. Leino sees this as a market opportunity where energy piles could play a key role in helping Indonesia’s transition toward more sustainable energy solutions.
Auto-Lock Pile Joint Improves Efficiency and Safety
Tekres also aims to revolutionize Indonesia’s piling industry with its auto-lock pile joint – a patented, self-locking and self-tightening mechanism that speeds up piling work and enhances safety.
“In Indonesia, pile joints are traditionally welded, a process that takes around half an hour per joint. Our auto-lock system dramatically increases efficiency as the welding is no longer needed,” Leino explains.
Beyond improving efficiency, the auto-lock technology enhances fire and workplace safety while reducing the physical strain of piling work – potentially opening the door for more women to enter the industry.
Tekres plans to pilot the auto-lock pile joint in Indonesia in collaboration with local partners.
“We originally designed the joint for standard square piles, but market research revealed that rounded spun piles are more common in Indonesia. Now, we are testing how well our solution adapts to these conditions,” Leino says.
Innovation Funding Drives Finnish Solutions in Developing Markets
The Developing Markets Platform (DevPlat) has helped several Finnish companies in bringing sustainable innovations to Indonesia through collaboration with local partners.
According to DevPlat expert Minh Lam, these partnerships have accelerated the adoption of new technologies and knowledge transfer.
“Based on feedback from companies, the positive impacts of these innovations are already visible in Indonesia,” Lam states.
DevPlat funding supports the development of new products, services, processes, and business models. This funding complements Business Finland’s R&D projects and can be granted to new projects, ongoing initiatives, or even projects completed within the last five years.
“To qualify for innovation funding, a project must drive business growth, create new jobs in both Finland and the target market, and support Finland’s key development goals along with the UN Sustainable Development Goals”, Lam emphasizes.
The DevPlat funding model was reformed at the beginning of 2025 and can now be applied for from Finnpartnership under the name innovation funding. The funding is granted as a de minimis aid, with a maximum amount of €300,000 and up to 75% of the project’s approved total costs.
TEKRES GROUP
Founded in 2011, Tekres Group Oy is a family-owned company based in Rauma, Finland, specializing in steel components for reinforced concrete piles. Its core products include extendable energy piles, auto-lock pile joints and eco-friendly rock points.
