Wind power in Finland has been the fastest growing source of electricity in recent years. In 2020,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

covered 9.6% of the yearly electricity demand with

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

production, which was 11.8% of the domestic production. Production was up 29% from the previous year. This compares to an average wind power share of 15% in the EU and 16% in the whole of Europe. According to a 2018 study done by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, published in ''

Nature Energy ''Nature Energy'' is a monthly Peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. The editor-in-chief is Nicky Dean. The 2017 efficiency record (26.6%) in solar cell technology was published in the journal. According to ...

'', new wind power technology can cover the entire electricity consumption (86 TWh) of Finland. Wind power is the most popular energy resource among Finnish public: 90% of Finns would want further investments in wind energy in September 2007. In April 2005 the value was 88%. In the

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

area of Finland 97% of people supported wind power according to Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy in 2000.

Comparison

In 2018 the cumulative wind power capacity in Finland was 2,041 MW compared to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

7,047 MW,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

3,564 MW and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

59,311 MW. In 2018 there was zero new installed wind power in Finland. The wind energy share of total electricity demand was 6% in 2018 and total consumption was 1.3% in 2014. Wind energy covered 14% of EU electricity demand in 2018. In Europe

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

had the highest share 41%,

28% and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

24%,

21% ,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

19%, the UK 18%,

12% and

6%. Includes the UK even after it left the EU. Croatia is included since 2014.

Growth

After 2017 Finnish renewable energy subsidies lapsed after two years of record growth in wind installations. The government had started negotiations about an auction system to replace them, but did not complete the process before the previous system expired. 2018 was expected to see little growth in wind generation as a result. In late 2018 the Government held an auction for up to 1.4 TWh of annual renewable electricity generation. All the bids received were for wind projects. In March 2019 the results were announced with seven projects totaling 1.36 TWh accepted. The average winning premium was 2.49 €/MWh, with successful bids ranging from 1.27 to 3.97 €/MWh. By 2020 the wind power sector was again booming, but this time without subsidies. Finnish Wind Power Association estimated 18 GW of wind power projects in 2020, with 7% of those under construction and 40% with planning permission. By the end of 2021, more than 1 GW of unsubsidised wind power was to be commissioned, with a further estimated 1.3 GW and 1.2 GW coming online in the next two years.

Economy

According to EPV Tuulivoima in 2010, a 100 MW wind farm (30 wind turbines) would employ ca 1000 persons. In 2016,

St1 St1 Oy is a Finnish energy company owning the St1 service stations' chain in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Poland. The company was established in 1995 under the name Greenergy Baltic Oy. In 1997, the St1 chain was established in Finland . In 2 ...

opened the 59,5 MW TuuliWatti at a cost of €140 million. Wind power is partially responsible for keeping electricity prices from rising. According to Technical University of Lappeenranta wind power became the cheapest power in Finland since March 2017. Power production cost per MWh in 2017 were: wind power 41 €, nuclear power 42 €, peat 61 €, coal 64€, wood 76€ and solar 100€. In 2019 new wind power cost is estimated to be 25 €/MWh. In 2019 new wind power will be produced 10,9 TWh in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Politics

Kimmo Tiilikainen Kimmo Kalevi Tiilikainen (born 17 August 1966, Ruokolahti) is a Finnish politician from the Centre Party. He is an organic farmer and forester. Tiilikainen served as the Minister of Agriculture and the Environment from 2015 to 2019. He is also a ...

(1966) (Centre Party) was the environmental minister of Finland during 1.10.2007-31.3.2008, while the permanent minister (

Paula Lehtomäki Paula Lehtomäki (born 29 November 1972 in Kuhmo, Finland) is a Finnish politician. She started her political career in 1996, when she was elected to the Kuhmo town council. In 1999 she was elected to the Finnish Parliament, and again in 2003. In ...

, Centre Party) was on a leave. In his preliminary minister comments in September 2006 Kimmo Tiilikainen recommended Feed-in-Tariff for wind power within one year with the objective of 3000 MW wind power in 2020. Finland consumed 90 000 GWh of electricity in (2006). Municipals receive taxes from wind power. Both Raahe and Kalajoki obtained €1.35 million in taxes from 60 turbines in 2018. According to Wind Power Association for land owners wind power is more profitable than same land as forest use. In 2014 the government was planning to reduce local municipal income from wind power by taking half of the tax income to the state (tax of real estate). This was suggested since government was afraid that the wind power market was overheated in Finland. The reduced tax was meant to lower interest in wind power investments in the municipalities.Tuulivoimalakuntien verotuloja aiotaan leikata Helsingin Sanomat 19.2.2014 A13

Gallery

Image:Windmills as seen from the top of one.jpg, Wind turbines as seen from the top of one in Finland Image:Kuivamatala.jpg, Wind farm in Finland, Ii municipality Image:Onsajanmatala & Vatunki.jpg, Vatunki wind farm in Kuivaniemi, Ii municipality, Finland.

References

External links

The Finnish Wind Power Association

Wind projects 2007
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland {{Wind power by country