Energy policy of Finland describes the politics of Finland related to energy. Energy in Finland describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Finland. Electricity sector in Finland is the main article of electricity in Finland.

Climate policy Finland is member of the EU. The EU sets the minimum climate policy targets for Finland.

According to Heikki Simola of the Finnish Association of Nature Conservation, Finnish forest management has made Finnish forest and mire ecosystems as a considerable net source of carbon into the atmosphere for decades.Alarming loss of soil carbon in the Boreal forest zone in Finland Heikki Simola Finnish Association of Nature Conservation November 2017

Peat 10–15% of European peat lands are in Finland. Finland uses over 50% of the world's peat as energy. The annual emissions of Finnish energy peat are equal to all car emissions in Finland. According to IPCC peat is fossil energy. In some estimates, it takes 2000–3000 years to build up. Some parties e.g. Center claim peat to be bioenergy. The definition of bioenergy in Finnish individual statistics may be good to confirm in general. The business annual turnover of energy peat in Finland is €300 million- Annual state support is €200 million. This support was increased after European price on coal to compensate the extra cost to industry. €200 million is equal to mission funds for elderly care in 2019 in Finland.Suomi on maailman suurimpia turpeen tuottajia. Turvesuomi-projekti tähtää turpeennoston hallittuun alasajoon Voima 9.9.2019

In electricity production, peat's share of CO2 emissions is 20% while it produces 6% of electricity in Finland. Finland is appraised of its high knowledge of using bioenergy. Finland burn wood with peat and processes are developed to use peat (ref voima 9.9.2019)

According to Stern report it is cheaper to stop the global warming emissions than pay the climate change costs. Polluter pays principle allocate a big share of climate change-related agriculture losses compensations in Finland to the peat producers to pay for long time in future. According to the environmental law in Europe businesses must be aware of their environmental impacts. Ignorance does not remove the responsibility.

Carbon tax Finland was the first country in the 1990s to introduce a carbon tax, initially with exemptions for specific fuels or sectors. Energy taxation was changed many times. These changes were related to the opening of the Nordic electricity market. Other Nordic countries exempted energy-intensive industries, and Finnish industries felt disadvantaged by this. Finland placed a border tax on imported electricity, but this was found to be out of line with EU single market legislation. Changes were then made to the carbon tax to partially exclude energy-intensive firms. This had the effect of increasing the costs of reducing CO2 emissions.

Scholars suggested that carbon tax revenues in Finland could be used to reduce labour taxes, which would favour non-energy-intensive industries.

Electricity

The annual net import of electricity has varied between 5 and 20% of consumption.Energy year book 2006, Statistic 3.1, Statistics of Finland

Lighting In EU politics Finnish government supported the delay in the banning of incandescent lightbulbs.

According to the national state-owned energy center Motiva banning of incandescent lightbulbs will save 5.8% of households electricity (1.1 TWh) in Finland.Lamput vaihtoon, Satu Hassi, TEK 4/2007 (Ms. S. Hassi supported the banning of the incandescent lightbulbs based on energy saving in 2007) The lightbulbs banning is not restricted in households but concern also other sectors lighting, like industry, service, agriculture and public lighting, making the total national percentage lower and total energy savings higher than the above-given numbers 5.8% of electricity 1.1 TWh. Motiva calculation may have used average year consumption instead of the specific year e.g. 2006. According to the statistics of Finland, in 2006 the electricity used in households was 10.6 TWh excluding the electricity warming that was 9.1 TWh. Thus 1.1/19.7 would be ca 5.6% in 2006. Excluding electric warming it would be 10.4% of household electricity.Statistics of Finland, Annual book Energy 2007, Helsinki 2008

Nuclear power

Finland's five reactors are among the world's most efficient, with an average lifetime capacity factor of over 90%a and average capacity factor over the last ten years of almost 95%, and covers 33% of the country's electricity

In 2019 In Finland the nuclear power owners responsibility of major accident is 700 million euros that state can rise by €70 million in maximum.Ydinvastuulaki 8.6.1972/484 Fukushima accident cost $167 million. Many major nuclear plant accidents have taken place: Chernobyl disaster 1986, Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant Japan 1995, Rocky Flats Plant USA 1957 and UK Sellafield 1955.

In the 1980s the nuclear accident costs for the nuclear plant in Finland were limited to 1.6 mrd markka (0.26 mrd €).Jarmo Vehmas, Suomen energiatalouden ekologinen modernisaatio, page 170, In: Ilmo Massa and Ossi Rahkonen, Riskiyhteiskunnan talous, Suomen ekologinen modernisaatio, Gaudeamus 1995 The estimated cost of Chernobyl disaster 1986 is hundreds of bn dollars.Nuclear power is not the answer to climate change The Imperative for an Energy Revolution Greenpeace 5.12.2007 Also the EU has kept supporting Russia in the expenses of the Tšernobyl disaster still in 2010. The general environmental policy of EU is that the polluter pays. This does not apply the external costs of nuclear power that are in Finland diluted to all national tax payers and in the case of nuclear disaster probably further to all tax payers of the European Union.

After environmental committee inquiry the target was told to be 5%. Only 10% of the Finnish climate emissions are from electricity. According to Pöyry Energy (2008) addition of nuclear energy would reduce Finnish climate emissions 4% (2,8 Mt) and majority of the electricity would be for export. In addition, the major nuclear companies Fortum and PVO plan new coal companies.Miksi Suomeen ei kannata rakentaa lisää ydinvoimaa? Greenpeace 5.6.2009

Transmission

Fingrid Oyj is a Finnish national electricity transmission grid operator. In Finland the electricity transmission costs were informed in September 2010 to rise for everybody in 2012 at least 10% based on the needed transmission line investments demanded by the new Olkiluoto nuclear plant under construction in 2005–2013.Fingrid aikoo nostaa kantaverkkomaksuja Yle 01.09.2010 The transmission lines are owned by Fingrid. The nuclear companies Fortum and PVO were 50% shareholders of Fingrid. Both of them are shareholders of the nuclear power plant under construction in 2005–2013. According to the EU decisions the power companies should not own the grid. Representatives of the social democrat party supported in 2008 the 100% state ownership and control of Fingrid including acquisitions from the nuclear and insurance companies.Skinnari haluaa Fingridin kokonaan valtiolle Yle 01.03.2008 Finnish state and the insurance company Ilmarinen will take over a 50% share of Fingrid from the nuclear companies Fortum and PVO as announced in January 2011.Valtio kantaverkkoyhtiö Fingridin enemmistöomistajaksi yle 26.1.2011

Electricity costs The industry electricity tariffs are lower than other users. In Finland the electricity pricing of households promotes electricity use with high fixed prices and increasing price reductions for higher consumption. The annual transmission costs for at least a moderate energy user (less than 2 MWh a year, a typical German consumption) can be higher than the actual electricity cost. With this consumption level the fixed costs may be around 0.25-0.3 % of total electricity costs. According to the newspaper discussions in some contracts the fixed cost can be substantial also when there is no electricity use and the power lines are old. The fixed costs may be a significant cost factor in the evaluation of own renewable electricity production. This applies also alternatives to fossil heating if connection to old system is in place. Most often only the remote summer cottages have no connection in the transmission power lines with annual fixed costs. At least until the end of 2010 there was no compensation of extra electricity fed in the power lines. This is also valid in 2011 for small-scale domestic or agricultural farm production. The electricity feed in policy of government have mainly supported the large energy companies economical interests. The shift in the charge of electricity consumption instead of the present trend to increase of the fixed prices would promote economically the energy savings and renewable energy investments. This could be politically controlled since the business interest is to promote high energy consumption.

Energy security and domestic energy Energy security measures center on reducing dependence on any one source of imported energy or supplier, exploiting renewable energy resources, and reducing demand by energy conservation. Finland is highly dependent on energy import from Russia: 71% of total energy in 2007: Hard coal 92%, raw oil 75% and natural gas 100%.Energian tuonti alkuperämaittain vuonna 2007 Statistic of Finland 20.3.2008 The support of domestic energy has been mainly based on traditional bioenergy and highly disputed fossil peat energy alternatives. The new renewable energy alternatives have not been effectively promoted by the end of 2010. This strategy was criticised by the IEA in its country evaluation in 2007. According to the renewable energy statistics of EU countries Finland has low capacities of wind power (19/27), solar power (17/27) and solar heating (23/27) in 2010. Wind power is repeatedly the most favoured power source in Finland with over 90% of support according to the public opinion tests. In this respect the official energy policy of Finland has promoted the market control of traditional energy sources and companies.

Renewable energy

Renewable energy target of electricity was 35% in 2005 from 1997 to 2010. In 2006 the target was dropped in 31.5% from 1997 to 2010. 2005: Record year for investments in renewable energy REN21 Renewables Global Status Report 2006 Update”, REN21 (Paris) and Worldwatch institute (Washington, DC), 18.7.2006, picture 10 The RE electricity share was about the same in 1997 as in 2009. Since the consumption of electricity increased, the use of fossil fuel electricity increased as well. Since the energy statistics of Finland have rather high annual variations, for more accurate energy trend evaluations one may want to calculate also e.g. five year averages.

Renewable ElectricityEnergy statistics, Annual year book, Statistics of Finland 2010 Year RE RE electricity/ total electricity (GWh) RE without hydro electricity 1997 26.2% 19,269 / 73,603 10.2% 2000 28.6% 22,676 / 79,158 10.4% 2001 25.7% 20,887 /81,188 9.7% 2005 26.7% 22,586 / 84,672 10.8% 2006 24.1% 21,670 / 90,024 11.5% 2009 25.9% 20,900 / 80,795 10.3% RE = Renewable electricity

Hydro electricity

Most hydroelectricity capacity was built before year 1997. Fortum owns the majority of water power. Fortum received most of its hydroelectricity power capacity in the disputed acquisition of the same size national company and mainly renewable electricity company Imatran Voima. Fortum was until then mainly a nuclear company. Finnish competition authorities approved the deal.

Wind power

The wind power target of Finland was 494 MW wind power by 2010.[Uusiutuvien energialähteiden edistämisohjelman arviointi] Kauppa- ja teollisuusministeriö, editor Pentti Leino, Electrowatt-Ekono Oy, 19.02.2003 page 40 Only 40%, 197 MW of the target, was achieved in 2010.EWEA Annual statistics 2010

Solar energy

Solar heating