New law tightens rules for wind power and slows growth in solar energy
Suomen uusiutuvat strongly criticizes the government's new policy on wind and solar power regulation. This will be stipulated in the new Land Use Act. According to the association, the fixed distance of 1,250 meters between wind turbines and residential areas will prevent wind power construction in southern Finland and industrial areas. The association says that the provisions on solar power construction threaten to stifle the development of this emerging sector at an early stage with unnecessarily heavy regulation.
According to a press release from the Ministry of the Environment, wind power regulations are set to become significantly stricter. According to Suomen Uusiutuvat, a fixed minimum distance of 1,250 meters between residential areas and wind turbines would make the current impact-based model for wind power distance regulations significantly stricter. In practice, the regulations would rule out a large part of the potential wind power areas in southern Finland, as well as many areas used for industrial purposes.
"This means that, in practice, it would no longer be possible to build wind turbines in southern Finland and industrial areas. In Finland, distances have so far been determined on the basis of the impact of wind power, and now the regulations are being tightened significantly. The fixed distance limit for wind power will weaken Finland's ability to increase domestic electricity production where it is most needed," says Anni Mikkonen, CEO of Suomen Uusiutuvat.
Electricity consumption is expected to double in the coming years, and wind power is the cheapest and fastest way to increase clean electricity production in Finland. As a decentralized form of production, wind power also supports the functioning of the electricity grid.
"Losing the wind power potential of southern Finland will also make it more difficult to balance the electricity system and weaken security of supply. On a positive note, the draft bill now takes into account the extensive feedback received, which particularly highlighted municipalities' concerns about the weakening of local democracy in energy production," comments Matias Ollila, Director of Renewable Energy Advocacy at Finland.
Unnecessarily heavy regulation of solar power
The government has decided that the construction of solar power plants larger than 50 hectares will always require zoning. According to Suomen Uusiutuvat, this increases the regulation of industrial solar power in a way that is not in line with the government program's goal of streamlining the permitting process.
"The government's policy overregulates an industry that is still in its infancy. Domestic solar power reduces emissions, creates economic growth, and strengthens the balance of the electricity system. A categorical zoning restriction narrows the opportunities for municipalities to make decisions about their own areas and places an unjustified burden on municipal zoning units that are already struggling with resource challenges. This is contrary to local self-government and good land use planning," comments Klaara Tapper, Head of Renewable Energy Advocacy at Finland.
In addition to streamlining the permitting process, the government's objectives were to utilize, for example, wasteland and decommissioned peat production areas for solar power construction. The proposed regulation does not support these objectives.
"Artificial zoning limits increase project costs and thus make it more difficult to locate solar power plants on former peat production areas, for example. Finland is still in the early stages of industrial-scale solar power development: the sector deserves a predictable operating environment that enables investment and accelerates the energy transition in a fair manner that supports the regional economy. Overregulation slows down positive development completely unnecessarily," Tapper says.
