Wind power output up by a third in Finland

Finnish wind power plants coped well with the stormy weather at the end of 2011.

The amount of electricity produced by wind power increased by about a third in Finland during 2011. Wind power now contributes about 0.5% of Finland’s annual electricity consumption.

Last year showed that Finland is well suited to wind power production, according to Anni Mikkonen, director of the Finnish Wind Power Association. “For example, in 2011 the annual output of the 3 MW wind power plants in Finland exceeded the output of similar wind power plants in Sweden and Estonia,” she says.

The high winds experienced in Finland at the end of the year did not cause problems for industrial wind power plants. While the storms were causing infrastructural damage in parts of the country, the wind power plants were producing electricity at almost maximum capacity. The 3 MW wind power plant in Pori, western Finland, produced more than 10,000 MW of electricity in 2011, which was a third more than the year before.

However, despite the great interest in wind power in Finland, only three new wind power plants were constructed in 2011. According to Mikkonen, the rapid expansion of wind power in Finland was held back by delays in the introduction of a wind power support system and new guidelines which have slowed down the permit processes for new wind power projects. Mikkonen expects the Ministry of Employment and the Economy to take measures for correcting the situation in the near future.

 Source: Finnish Wind Power Association