“I am Risto Sormunen and I joined CLIC Innovation on 4 September 2023 as Vice President, Ecosystem Operations. After having worked for more than 40 years at Fortum, I am happy to have this opportunity to start at CLIC with today´s new challenges on clean energy and circular economy transition and networks. I believe that CLIC has and will have an important role in promoting and even accelerating the new solutions to be implemented in different sectors of the industries and societies. At Fortum, I held various positions in R&D&I, as well as business development. I was also a part of the business unit management teams
I started my career in industrial electricity load control and energy saving projects in Finland and Estonia followed by power plant and thermal technology R&D and product development lead at Fortum Engineering. I have also led teams in units responsible for business IT, and I have worked with daily planning and management of large bio- and coal-fired units. During my time at Fortum/IVO, I engaged in multiple projects and steering groups involving Finnish industry companies, research organizations, and universities. These initiatives were often funded by Business Finland/Tekes. In one of my last roles at Fortum, I was leading the Expand Fibre Veturi program from Fortum´s side.
I enjoy outdoor living with bird watching (sometimes during springtime), swimming in lakes (I have a wet suit for colder waters), mushroom picking (especially ceps), taking care of and working in our home garden (and enjoying long brunches on warm summer mornings) and biking to work in good weather (with my old-fashioned city bike). “
