Last year Finland’s electricity consumption decreased by 6.2 percent while the shares of fossil-free and domestically produced electricity reached record highs.
Renewable energy sources met 54 percent of the country’s needs, with the biggest growth in wind power. The amount of electricity produced by wind turbines soared by 41 percent to provide 14 percent of total consumption, Statistics Finland said on Thursday.
The share of nuclear power, a mainstay of the Finnish energy palette since the 1970s, rose to 35 percent of total production as the long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 reactor finally began operating in Eurajoki, southwest Finland, in late 2022 after an extended test operations phase. Nuclear electricity output upped by seven percent compared to the year before.
Imports of electricity from Russia came to halt in May last year, and as a result net imports of electricity fell by 30 percent overall from the previous year. Imports continued from the Nordic countries and Estonia. Domestic production rose to supply 85 percent of consumption.
The combined share of low-emission production from renewable energy sources and nuclear power rose to a new record of 89 percent. Hydropower still provided 36 percent of renewable electricity with 31 percent from wind power and the rest mainly by wood-based fuels. The amount of solar electricity continued to grow, but its share remained marginal, at just 0.6 percent of the total electricity production.
Peat and fossil production down by 23%
Eleven percent of electricity production still came from fossil fuels and peat. The number decreased by 23 percent from the previous year. Electricity production with natural gas dropped sharply as imports of pipeline gas from Russia ended.
Meanwhile government measures helped phase out peat production, despite efforts by then-government partner the Centre Party in 2021 to slow the transition away from the high-emission traditional energy source.
Edit note added on 3.11.2023 at 13:39 to note that the amount of electricity produced by wind turbines was 14 percent of total consumption in 2022, not 17 percent as previously stated.
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