Finnish wind power statistics 2021: A record year behind the construction of wind power
A record number of new wind power plants were built in Finland last year, although some of the projects under construction were delayed and will not be completed until this year. The pace of construction is accelerating in the coming years. Wind power covers 10 % of Finland’s electricity consumption, which has again risen to the level it was before the corona virus pandemic.
Last year, 141 new wind farms were built in Finland with a total capacity of 671 MW. Wind power capacity increased by 26 % from the previous year. Finland’s cumulative wind power capacity is now 3257 MW. The new power plants will be completed mainly in late 2021 and will not start producing clean energy at full capacity this year. At the end of 2021, the total number of wind turbines was 962, of which 59 % were domestically owned.
Wind power production for the whole year was 8,061 TWh, or 11,7 % of all electricity production in Finland. Wind power covered 9,3 % of Finland’s electricity consumption and the amount is expected to increase to 25 % by 2025 at the latest.
“Wind power has quickly become a major form of electricity production. Its share has grown from less than one percent to about ten percent in less than a decade. Wind power plants produce more electricity and have therefore become more cost-effective, as construction costs have fallen at the same time. The rapid pace of construction is also continuing, and in the middle of the decade wind power will cover a quarter of the electricity consumed in Finland”, says Anni Mikkonen, CEO of the Finnish Wind Power Association.
“Fewer wind power plant were completed in 2021 than expected, as some of the projects were delayed and the wind power plants will not be officially taken into use until 2022. The reasons for the delays were, among other things, challenges related to the corona virus pandemic, which affected the availability of labor and supplies. Yet 2021 was a record year for the construction of new wind farms. The previous record year was 2017”, says Mikkonen.