Helsinki power company Helen decided on Tuesday to stop burning coal for energy in the spring of 2024, five years ahead of schedule.
Finland has set a goal to stop burning coal as a fuel source during this decade and the city's power station on Salmisaari initially had plans to stop its use in 2029.
But the municipally-owned company's board and operational leaders advanced the timetable.
"It's so expensive to burn coal that it's almost like burning banknotes. In this sense it's both fun and economically beneficial to stop doing it," said Helen's board chair Osmo Soininvaara (Green).
Over the past several years, the firm has sought alternatives to coal and that work continues, according to Helen's CEO Juha-Pekka Weckström.
At the moment, the company has figured out future replacement power sources for about half of the facility's current output.
"We will hardly need the entire reserve capacity, but the starting point is that most of the gap will be filled," Weckström said.
The Helsinki City Council previously ordered Helen to shut down the city's other coal-fired plant on the island of Hanasaari. It will be closed in the spring of 2023.
An estimated 288 workers at the facilities are at risk of redundancies.