FINLAND WANTS NEW ENERGY

Finland to Push for Renewable, Wind Energy With Feed-In Tariff Subsidies
Kati Pohjanpalo, September 16, 2010 (Bloomberg News)

"Finland will promote renewable energy with fixed prices for wind and biogas power to encourage producers to meet emission targets set by the European Union…Feed-in tariffs, a set price guaranteed to producers, come into force on Jan. 1 and will last for 12 years, the government in Helsinki said…

"Finland is seeking ways to add non-polluting power generation to meet a need in a country that consumes per capita more than twice the electricity used by Germany because of its cold climate and energy-intensive industries such as papermaking. Finland, which currently has four nuclear reactors and is building a fifth, also in July approved permits for two more units scheduled to come online in the 2020s…The country must increase the share of renewable energy to 38 percent by 2020 from about 28 percent in 2008 to help Europe reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide…The Nordic country will also reduce energy demand to help meet the goal, the government has said."

Finland presently has 118 turbines with a nameplate capacity of 147 megawatts over the length of the country. (click to enlarge)

"The feed tariffs will increase wind power in Finland to 6 terawatt-hours by 2020, the government said. Wind power accounted for 0.3 percent of the 80.8 terawatt-hours of electricity consumed in 2009…Renewable generation increased 15 percent in 2008…

"Finland is seeking alternative sources of energy to supplement nuclear power because it lacks the oil and hydropower supplies of neighbors such as Russia and Norway, which gets almost all of its electricity from water…Finland had 118 wind turbines at the end of 2009 with a combined capacity of 147 megawatt-hours…"

click to enlarge

"The target for the feed-in tariffs will be 83.50 euros ($109) a megawatt-hour…Electricity from biogas will get an additional 50 euros a megawatt-hour for combined heat and power generators. For the first three years, wind power would be paid 105 euros a megawatt-hour to ensure implementation…

"Finland imports about 15 percent of the electricity used in the country. Fortum Oyj, Finland’s biggest utility, owns stakes in wind power generators Tunturituuli Oy and Hyoetytuuli Oy as well as a stake in a wind plant in Olkiluoto, Finland."