Wind Power News: Finland
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.
‘Visual concerns’ set to halt one of Finland’s biggest wind energy projects
FINLAND: PVO-Innopower (PVOIP) may be required to change its proposed windfarm in the Kristiinankaupunki area from an offshore to an inshore project, following “visual environmental” concerns identified in a report by the City of Kristiinankaupunki’s (CoK) Health and Environment Safety Unit (HESU).
A preliminary project review report completed by the HESU has raises questions regarding the “advisability of building a large windfarm in as an environmentally sensitive landscape,” as the coastal waters near Kristiinankaupunki and Närpiö.
It continues: “Our concern is that . . .
Military blocking construction of wind power
Finnish Energy Industries (ET) says that the military is blocking plans to develop wind power. The Defence Forces say that studies need to be done on windmills’ effects on radar, but so far has not agreed to help fund research.
ET, the Defence Forces and the government have been arguing over the issue most of the autumn. Research done in western Europe and the United States points to windmills interfering with the reliability of radar, a view echoed by the Technical . . .
Room for hundreds of windmills in Finland
Finland has a much greater capacity for wind power than previously thought. A new wind survey shows that even inland areas could support windmills – but this is likely to spark argument of where the towering, noisy turbines should be placed.
The government’s official goal is to increase the use of wind power in Finland by twentyfold in the next ten years. According to a wind-mapping project by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, this is technically possible, even further away from windy . . .
Fortum unveils plans for Maalahti wind farm
Finnish utility Fortum said in a statement it would launch an environmental impact assessment process over a five-turbine wind farm in Maalahti in western Finland.
Fortum added the total capacity of the farm would be between 15 and 20 megawatts, depending on turbine size.
Fortum plans to have the farm generating electricity in 2013, pending approval from the local council and other authorities.
/STT/
newsroom.finland.fi
25 November 2009
Fortum and Metsähallitus plan wind farm in Finnish Lapland
Finnish government-controlled utility Fortum and Metsähallitus, the government forest enterprise, said Friday they were planning building a wind farm straddling Kittilä and Sodankylä in Lapland.
Fortum said in a statement that initial plans saw the construction of 18 turbines, each generating two to three megawatts of electricity.
The project’s environmental impact assessment process is to begin later this year.
“If the project proves to be feasible in further investigations and if the necessary permissions are granted, wind power production could start in Kuolavaara-Keulakkopää . . .
Major row expected over new power lines
Power grid owner and operator Finngrid is making preparations for the construction of almost three thousand kilometres of new power lines during the next decade, if a new sixth nuclear unit is constructed and government targets are met for wind power. The Farmers’ Union says opposition among landowners is already growing.
Plans by Finngrid to build 2,700 kilometres of power lines envisage constructing in parallel to existing lines, thus widening the land corridors occupied by line towers. About 300 kilometres would . . .
Wind turbines to take over old Soviet combat sites in Hanko Peninsula
The Hanko Peninsula, on which the City of Hanko is located, has a long history of battles dating back to the 18th century.
The trenches and other remnants of past conflicts can still be spotted on the terrain of the peninsula. Moreover, the fortifications remaining in the area date back to the 1940s when the Hanko Peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base.
In the Moscow Peace Treaty that ended the Winter . . .
Report: Wind energy calls for annual backing of EUR 174 million
Wind power needs to be supported by EUR 174 million per year in order for Finland to reach its goal in the use of renewable energy.
The aim is to produce six per cent of the country’s electricity through wind power by the year 2020.
According to a report produced at the Lappeenranta University of Technology, wind energy still requires substantial financial backing, for the investments are still too expensive . . .
Finnish MEP Korhola says wind turbines raise jobless rate
Eija-Riitta Korhola, a Finnish Conservative party Euro-MP, on Saturday blasted the Finnish centre-right government’s wind power policy as greenwash.
“Massive plans to invest into unprofitable wind power make for bad policy given that one knows that the public will foot the bill in the form of elevated electricity prices and the unemployment that logically follows,” Ms Korhola said in a statement.
“While the landscape and noise problems and adverse effects on living organisms are known, the worst news is the recent research . . .
Fortum plans to build wind power on the island of Bergo in Finland
Fortum is investigating the possibility of building five wind power stations on the island of Bergo in the municipality of Maalahti in Finland.
Negotiations with land owners, including the municipality of Maalahti, have produced a positive result. Negotiations on assessing the environmental impact of wind power stations have been started with the West Finland Regional Environment Centre.
The total capacity of the wind power stations will be 15 — 20 MW equalling the annual electricity consumption of approximately 2000- 2700 . . .
