Wind Power Award 2021 for the transmission system operator Fingrid
The Finnish transmission system operator Fingrid Oyj has been selected as the winner of the Wind Power Act 2021 in the competition organized by the Finnish Wind Power Association (FWPA). The audience voted Lestijärvi municipality’s wind power plant as their favorite.
The competition jury justifies its choice by saying: “Fingrid is an extremely important part of the development of wind power production in Finland. The change in the energy transition towards carbon neutrality must be even faster than previously thought, and the wind power capacity to be built in Finland will create opportunities for that. Especially in the current global situation, it is important that Fingrid invests in the main grid so that we can move from dependence on electricity imports to self-sufficiency and replace fossil fuel-based production and increase renewable energy, such as wind power.”
“We wanted to give Fingrid our strong incentive to continue doing this excellent work. The views of the company’s CEO Jukka Ruusunen have also served as an important marketing tool for the growth of wind power for several years.”
Petri Parviainen, Head of Fingrid’s Grid Services Unit, is delighted. ”Thank you very much for your attention! It is great that our hard investment in customer dialogue, network design and investment has been noticed in the industry. Over the past 10 years, we have increased our human resources and expertise in all areas, built thousands of kilometers of power lines and dozens of new substations, with the goal of enabling a change in the electricity generation structure and a green transition in Finland.”
The Wind Power Act of the Year 2021 competition was held between two strong, but very different, winning candidates. In addition to Fingrid, the jury’s votes were almost unanimously picked up by the art mural works of the Hedet wind farm in Närpiö, which was seen as an open-minded example of the cooperation between wind power operators, the municipality and the local residents to increase the coexistence and acceptability of wind farms. This is the first time in Finland (and there are globally only a few examples) that wind power and art are combined in this way for the benefit of the local community. The jury choosing the Wind Power Achievement of 2021 was MP Kai Mykkänen (National Coalition party), Seija Lukkala, founder of the Globe Hope company, MP Hanna Kosonen (Centre Party), Mika Järvinen, a professor at Aalto University, and a nature photographer Riku Karjalainen. The jury is presented in more detail at www.tuulivoimateko.fi.
In addition to the winner chosen by the jury, the audience was allowed to vote for their own favorite. The municipality of Lestijärvi won the public vote, where the largest wind farm in Finland – 455.4 megawatts – is currently being built. The municipality of Lestijärvi has boldly advanced Finland’s largest wind power project, which will be completed by the end of 2024. The park’s annual energy production is over 1.3 terawatt hours. It accounts for about two percent of all of Finland’s electricity production last year.
The Wind Power Act is awarded to an act or activity that has contributed to supporting or accelerating the growth and development of Finnish wind power. The award can be given to a company, project, research, authority, municipality or a specific wind power project, and also to an individual. By awarding the prize, the Finnish Wind Power Association wants to highlight the activities that promote Finland’s energy self-sufficiency and clean energy production.
The Finnish Wind Power Association’s (STY) Wind Power Achievement was now elected for the third time. Ikea (2020) and Aki Simunaniemi (2019) have previously received the Wind Power Achievement.