February 25, 2008
Finland
Finland
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, Ms Cronberg added the proposed increase in wind power would not need a boost in peak generating capacity in the form of a reservoir in Vuotos.
Matti Vanhanen (centre), the prime minister, told the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Sunday that he supported the Greens’ initiative but added that an increase of 2,000 megawatts would be more realistic than 3,000MW.
For his part, Mr Pekkarinen slammed the Green League’s proposal, saying it was utterly devoid of realism.
He added the Greens’ claim that new wind power capacity did not need an increase in peak power capacity was not true.
25 February 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/02/25/finlands-cronberg-calls-for-30-fold-increase-in-wind-power/