Wind Power News: Finland
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These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Metsähallitus plans to charge owners of wind generators rent for using public land
Metsähallitus, the state enterprise whose task is to manage most of the protected areas of Finland and to supply wood to the country’s forest industry, says that it will not give its land and water areas to companies setting up wind generators free of charge. Instead, it is expected to lease its land for use for wind-powered generators.
No details of the rent, or the preconditions, have been defined.
The Finnish government wants to increase sharply the …
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Climate change plea from tribe of herders who face extinction
In another threat, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams have sprung up in reindeer herding areas that had been protected, cutting grazing and forcing the Sami off their traditional land.
Olav Mathias-Eira is a reindeer-herder. So was his father. And his father’s father. He is a member of the Sami community, one of the largest indigenous groups remaining in Europe, and his family have been herding reindeer in the same stretch of the Norwegian Arctic since the …
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Searching for new locations for wind power; Inland areas included in new survey
New locations are being examined for the possible construction of windmills to generate electricity.
The aim of a report by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy is to find locations in Finland that would be suitable for wind energy in areas that have not previously been surveyed with wind power in mind.
These locations include inland areas which are near the coast. “It is …
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Power lines deadly to migratory birds
Hundreds of swans are killed each year after colliding into power lines in Finland. So far this year, 100 swans have been found dead. Other birds as well fall victim to the lines located along migratory paths.
Transferring electric cables underground would prevent the deaths, although warning devices on power lines have been somewhat useful. According to bird watchers, birds fly into the same lines every year.
Other large structures, like glass buildings, also create obstacles for …
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Energy debate revs up in Finnish government
A debate inside the Finnish government over the future of the country’s energy supply gained momentum on Monday with Mauri Pekkarinen, the economic affairs minister, deploying uncharacteristically colourful prose at a meeting in Brussels.
Mr Pekkarinen admitted that the ministry’s draft energy strategy paper would include a proposal to construct a reservoir in Vuotos, even though Green ministers were certain to reject the idea.
“I will then let Tarja strike a goal from that pass,” Mr Pekkarinen …
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Finland's Cronberg calls for 30-fold increase in wind power
Tarja Cronberg (green), the Finnish labour minister, on Saturday called for a 30-fold jump in wind power generating capacity, or an extra 3,000 megawatts by 2020, an increase that would have the country generate a tenth of its electricity from wind.
Responding to earlier comments by Mauri Pekkarinen (centre), the economic affairs minister, Ms Cronberg said Finland did not need another nuclear power station thanks to improvements in energy efficiency.
In another criticism of Mr Pekkarinen’s comments, …
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Katainen: increasing wind farms too expensive
Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen considers Centre Party proposals to dramatically increase the number of wind farms as unrealistic.
Katainen, a member of the National Coalition Party, told the newspaper Kaleva that suggestions for a twenty-fold increase in the number of wind farms would be too expensive at current wind energy prices.
He calculated that increasing wind power from current levels of 100 megawatts to 1,000 megawatts would require at least 600 to 700 million euros over the …
Wind power feed-in tariff would cost Finns EUR 780 mln
Finland’s trade and industry ministry said Monday that a feed-in tariff for wind power would cost the consumers about 780 million euros through the end of the next decade.
A feed-in tariff could, according to a study commissioned by the ministry, pay for the construction of about 2,000 megawatts of new wind power generating capacity.
Electricity generated by wind power stations is considerably more expensive than the current market price of power.
Under a feed-in tariff scheme, the …
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Germany's WPD plans up to 600MW wind power park in Finland
German renewable energy group WPD’s said Wednesday it was planning erecting a 500-600-megawatt offshore wind power park off Korsnäs on Finland’s Gulf of Bothnia coast.
If built, the generators would quintuple Finland’s wind power generating capacity.
Esa Holttinen, the chief executive of WPD Finland, said the company would begin an environmental impact assessment on a windfarm comprising up to 120 mills. The cost of building the farm would range between 750 million and 1.2 billion euros.
The windfarm …
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