Finland ups wind capacity by over 400MW in 1H

Finland built 439MW of new onshore wind capacity in the first half of this year, with the majority of the projects constructed by development firm Winda Energy, according to the Finnish wind association.

January-June additions lifted the country's total installed wind capacity to 6.11GW from 5.67GW at the end of 2022 and about 2GW above the total at the end of the first half of last year. There were 75 turbines installed over the period, down from 154 turbines over the same period in 2022, when 784MW of capacity was constructed.

Finnish developer Winda Energy constructed the highest share, 45pc, of Finland's newly added wind capacity following the completion of the 80MW Kalajoki and 28.5MW Saarijavi, as well as the Kinnula and Kyyharvi wind projects — each with a capacity of 45.6MW. The projects are all owned by investment firm BlackRock.

Developers Ilmatar Energy and WPD Finland added the remaining capacity with shares at 33pc and 22pc, respectively, as a result of the newly commissioned Alajarvi and Nuolivaara onshore wind projects.

New turbines were installed by only two turbine manufacturers over the first half of this year, with international firm Nordex Acciona accounting for 68pc of the share and Danish firm Vestas installing the remainder.

The association estimates that Finland's installed wind capacity will reach around 7.2GW at the end of this year.

Finland generated about 1.5GW of onshore wind in January-June, up from 1.2GW over the same period in 2022. The country's wind power pipeline sits at 121GW, which is made up of 386 onshore wind projects and 32 offshore wind farms.

Finland has approximately €54bn of planned investment for the construction of new onshore wind capacity up to 2030, while €43bn is allocated for the development of offshore wind, according to its current climate plan.

By Makani Joinville