Finland
Cutting-Edge Energy Sector Open to International Partnerships
Finland’s cutting-edge energy sector is one of the most advanced in Europe, particularly concerning bioenergy and other renewable energy sources. The Finnish energy sector has been fully liberalised and offers significant potential for investment and international partnerships. Finland’s energy policy is based on the versatile use of different fuels, energy production technologies and energy systems; Finland also supports a wide range of energy production facilities, both small and large. Finland generates electricity from nuclear, hydropower, natural gas, biofuel, coal, peat and wind sources. Bioenergy from wood chips, for example, accounts for around 70% of the renewable energy currently being produced in Finland.
Sustainability, self sufficiency, and emissions reduction Sustainability, self sufficiency, and emissions reduction are the guiding principles behind Finland’s energy programmes. To ensure energy sustainability, Finland has developed a strong regulatory environment which
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includes the Finnish Land Use and Building Act (2000); this legislation has proved an important instrument in the promotion of ecological sustainability as well as energy efficiency. The objective of the act is to ensure that the use of land and water areas and building activities on them create preconditions for a favourable living environment and promote ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable development according to Finland’s Ministry of the Environment. In 2003, Finland also implemented stringent regulations for the energy performance of new buildings, and in 2008 the Ministry of the Environment’s Decree on Energy Certification of Buildings came into force; it is geared to meeting new EU criteria.
Global leader in co-generation Focusing on energy efficiency, Finland promotes combined heat and power production with high efficiency, low nominal energy consumption and low emissions. In fact, Finland is a global leader in the fastgrowing field of co-generation of electricity and heat. Concerning energy self sufficiency, Finland currently imports more than half of its energy and energy raw