Renewable energy in Finland
By 2020, this growth positioned Finland as having the third highest share of renewables in TFEC among International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries.
[1] In 2020, Finland's share of renewables in gross final energy consumption reached 44.6%, surpassing the target of 38%.
This excess enabled Finland to sell statistical transfers of renewable energy to EU member states not meeting their 2020 targets.
In March 2021, Finland agreed to a transaction with Belgium, selling 1,376.5 GWh of renewable energy for EUR 18.6 million.
After this sale, Finland's renewable energy share in gross final consumption was reported at 43.8%, still above the 2020 goal.
[1] Finland's climate strategy, aimed at carbon neutrality by 2035, focuses on increasing energy efficiency and advancing technological innovations, especially in sustainable hydrogen solutions for heavy transport and industry.
The emphasis in Finland's energy mix has been on renewable sources like biomass, hydro, and wind power.
Finland is located between 60 and 70 degrees northern latitude and a quarter of its area lies north of the Arctic Circle.
The share of renewable electricity in Finland has been stable (1998–2005): 11-12% plus yearly variable hydroelectric power, totaling 24-27%.
However, during that year electricity consumption fell 10% compared to 2004 as a result of a prolonged forest industry labour dispute.
The strategy provides the basis for policy preparation, decision-making and negotiations on national, EU and international levels.
To attain these objectives, the energy efficiency of consumption must be enhanced, particularly in housing, construction and transport, and new policy measures must be enacted to promote renewables.
The government expects the growing global demand of fossil fuels to drive their prices further up in the long term.
Combined with the cost of emission allowances, this will significantly change the price relationship of fossil and renewable energy in favour of the latter.
From the European countries, Finland, Malta and Slovenia are the only ones (2006) that use only tax incentives to promote wind energy and other renewable electricity.
Major changes in the ownership of Fingrid are expected as new EU legislation will forbid energy producers from owning parts of the transmission grid.
The largest producer of wind power in Finland is the Hyötytuuli corporation, owned by the energy companies of various cities.
For example, the Ministry of Employment the Economy has conducted a research that found that there are 368 small bioenergy companies that provide 1,667 jobs.
The number of companies and jobs has grown steadily in the past years and the growth is expected to continue given the ambitious goals for bioenergy in the national climate and energy strategy.
Professionals in chemistry and life sciences and related fields will be needed for the envisioned development and production of the next generation of biofuels.
They will also have an important role in developing the forest industry towards more versatile biorefineries instead of traditional pulp and paper mills.
Bioenergy, closely associated with Finland's forestry and forest industry, plays a significant role in the country's renewable energy portfolio.
The world's largest bio power plant with a capacity of 265 MW is situated in Jakobstad in Finland.
This development has taken place much faster than in Finland where economic incentives are missing, and competing sources of energy are cheap.
Neste oil predicts that the world biodiesel demand will be 20 million tons in 2030, and its own production will be half of this.
In Europe at least, Sweden, Norway, Britain and France do not approve palm oil fatty acid residues (PFAD) as waste and sustainable bioenergy.
According to Neste, spoil advertisement palm oil biodiesel production chain includes crimes, corruption and human right violations.
[19] In 2022, hydropower constituted 16.3 percent of Finland's total electricity generation, with an installed capacity of 3,200 MW.
Nonetheless, solar energy faces technical challenges due to its intermittency, particularly in the Arctic region with its pronounced day-night and seasonal variations.
In 2005 the European common carbon dioxide emission system was agreed, and according to the agreement peat is equal to fossil fuel.
