Wind power in Finland has been the fastest growing source of electricity in recent years. In 2024,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

covered 24% of the yearly electricity demand with

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

production, which was 25% of domestic production. Wind capacity was up 20% from the previous year and wind production up 37%. This compares to an average wind power share of 19% in the EU. By the end of 2022, Finland's wind power capacity reached 5,677 MW with 1,393 turbines installed. That year, wind power production increased by 41% to 11.6 TWh, representing 14.1% of the country's electricity consumption. This growth positioned wind power as the country's third largest electricity source. In 2024 wind surpassed hydropower to become the second largest source behind only nuclear power. According to a 2018 study done by

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is a state-owned and controlled non-profit limited liability company. VTT is the largest research and technology company and research centre conducting applied research in Finland. It provides resear ...

, published in ''

Nature Energy ''Nature Energy'' is a monthly 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 the ''Journal ...

'', new wind power technology could cover the entire electricity consumption (86 TWh) of Finland. Wind power is one of the most popular energy resources among the Finnish public. In 2022 82% of respondents wanted more wind power, which was second only to solar with 90%. Previous results include 90% in September 2007 and 88% in April 2005. In the

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

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, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

7,047 MW,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

3,564 MW and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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. In 2019 Finnish wind installations resumed and by 2023 wind capacity had increased to 5,678 MW. Wind energy covered 16% of EU electricity demand in 2022. In Europe

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

had the highest share 55%,

34%,

the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

28%,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

26% ,

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

25%, as compared to Finland's 14%.

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

Growth

After 2017 Finnish renewable

energy subsidies Energy subsidies are measures that keep prices for customers below market levels, or for suppliers above market levels, or reduce costs for customers and suppliers. Energy subsidies may be direct cash transfers to suppliers, customers, or relat ...

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.

Offshore wind

Finland has a single offshore wind farm, the 44 MW Tahkoluoto offshore wind farm, owned by Suomen Hyötytuuli. It is located near

, with an initial pilot turbine constructed in 2010 and the other ten turbines in 2017. An extension with a further 40 turbines is planned. A demonstration project with two deep water wind turbines received a 30 million grant and is planned to be constructed in 2023-26 before the main extension. In 2022

Metsähallitus Metsähallitus (, , ''"the (Finnish) Forest Administration"'') is a state-owned enterprise in Finland. Its two main tasks are Parks & Wildlife Finland to manage most of the protected areas of Finland and Forestry to supply wood to the country's ...

held a tender for an offshore wind farm in

Korsnäs Korsnäs is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Korsnäs is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Korsnäs is approximately , while the sub-region has a population of approximatel ...

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational corporation, multinational electrical power industry, power company owned by the List of government enterprises of Sweden, Swedish state. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germa ...

won the tender to construct the 1.3 GW wind farm which is projected to produce approximately 5 TWh of electricity per year. The wind farm is expected to be commissioned in the early 2030s. In late 2023, Metsähallitus and Vattenfall agreed to expand the project area in line with a draft regional plan, allowing up to 2 GW of capacity. Further auctions are planned for 2023 and 2024, with zones for five offshore wind sites to be leased in Finnish

territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...

by Metsähallitus. An auction for the first two areas totaling 3 GW was announced in late 2023 and was estimated to take a year. A process for the other three areas was to be confirmed in 2024. In May 2024 the government decided to reject all 16 applications for offshore wind farms outside territorial waters in the exclusive economic zone until new legislation has been passed. Legislation is still being prepared and the fear was that granting applications now would undermine the new law. Exploration is still allowed to continue. This is expected to slow down the projects under development in the EEZ.

Economy

According to EPV Tuulivoima in 2010, a 100 MW wind farm (30 wind turbines) would employ ca 1000 persons. In 2016, St1 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 (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