In 2022, Finland ranked third in European wind power construction
In 2022, a record amount of wind power was built in Finland. 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity was completed. According to the statistics of the European wind power association WindEurope, Finland ranked third in Europe in terms of installed wind power capacity during 2022, right after Germany and Sweden.
The European Wind Energy Association WindEurope has published the 2022 wind power statistics. According to statistics, a good 19 gigawatts of new wind power capacity was completed in Europe in 2022. 87 percent (16.7 GW) of this was onshore wind power, 13 percent (2.5 GW) offshore wind power. Wind power produced 17 percent of Europe’s electricity demand last year.
In European statistics, the top three in wind power investments in 2022 are clear: Germany (2.7 GW), Sweden (2.4 GW) and Finland (2.4 GW) increased their wind power capacity the most. France (2.1 GW), Great Britain (1.7 GW) and Spain (1.7 GW) built the next most.
“It’s a really positive surprise that Finland, which came from behind in wind power investments, has now risen to the top three in Europe in terms of onshore wind power capacity completed in one year,” says Anni Mikkonen, CEO of the Finnish Wind Power Association.
“In terms of total wind power capacity, we are still behind the others, but we are slowly catching up with the countries that started construction earlier,” says Mikkonen. In Finland, in 2022, 14 percent of the country’s electricity consumption was covered by wind power. In this statistic too, Finland has risen. In 2021, Finland was in 16th place together with Poland and Estonia. Now Finland was in 10th place.
Wind power construction will continue its strong growth in Finland in the coming years as well, although at least based on the investment decisions published so far, it seems that Finland will not see a new record building year in 2023-2025.