In this study biomass-based energy production was introduced to an urban city area of Helsinki, Finland. The study compared two cases in integration with a municipality: (1) biomass fuelled small-scale CHP (combined heat and power)-plant and (2) a biorefinery. The comparison was made according to primary energy consumption, primary energy factors, CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions and the price of produced biowax. It was also studied how results are influenced by different assumptions. The results showed that the primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions were higher in the biorefinery case in absolute amounts as more products i.e. biowax was produced. The results indicated the primary energy factors were almost the same for both cases. Additionally, the primary energy use was very low for district heat and electricity produced in the biorefinery, when the primary energy use of the biorefinery was allocated only to the biowax. The sensitivity analysis of biowax pricing showed that a biorefinery is a competitive alternative for a CHP-plant if the prices of biomass and market electricity are low and the price of CO2 allowance is high. In terms of overall energy efficiency comparison, the comparison cannot be properly completed, because of the different end-products of the plants. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.