Finland Times

The government has taken an initiative to remove the obstacles to wind power construction arising out of the possibility of disturbing the surveillance radars in the Bothnia Bay.

 

A  bill was placed in the parliament  on Thursday including some proposals on the first wind power development area of the Bay of Bothnia encompassing 2,425 square kilometres in the municipalities of Hailuoto, Lumijoki, Raahe, Siikajoki and Pyhäjoki, said a government press release. 

 

File picture of a Wind power plants in Northern Ostrobothnia. Photo Str-Lehtikuva

It also pointed out some difficulties in installing more than 160 turbines as per the existing plans as most of the proposed turbines lacked the assurance from the Defence Forces that they would not cause any disturbance to surveillance systems.

 

A total investment of hundreds of millions of euro in wind power in the area remains pending for the radar issue.

 

The obstacles to wind power construction arising from possible disturbances to the operations of surveillance radars can be eliminated in specifically defined areas by developing the surveillance systems of the Finnish Defence Forces, said the proposal, adding that additional radar could be used. It would ensure the functioning of territorial surveillance while expediting wind power construction in areas having especially favourable wind conditions and numerous pending projects. 

 

Once the development area is established, construction of wind farms can take place even though no or a negative Defence Forces statement is issued.

 

Wind power producers planning to construct wind farms in the Bay of Bothnia wind power area must pay a compensation fee of 50,000 euro for each turbine. These payments will make up the compensation sum, which for the Bay of Bothnia wind power area will total 18.5 million euro.

 

If wind farms are constructed to such an extent that the compensation sum is exceeded, any excess will be returned to the wind power producers. The payments will be made as tax-like fees to the Energy Market Authority, which also looks after the administration of the feed-in tariff system for wind power.

 

This law will help create an arrangement that is reasonable and equitable to all companies planning to construct wind power in a given area, now or in the future.

 

To ensure a swift start, the state will participate in the financing solution in the early stages, enabling acquisition of additional radar by the Defence Forces during the summer. The new wind farms can then begin operating on 1 January 2014. The aim is for the bill to enter into force in the summer.

 

Finland has areas with favourable wind conditions where the estimated effects of wind farms on surveillance radars are currently the principal cause preventing wind power construction. Obtaining a construction permit for wind farms requires a statement from the Defence Forces confirming that the farms will not disturb the statutory duties of the Defence Forces under normal or abnormal conditions or in a state of emergency. A negative statement has consistently formed an obstacle to wind farm construction in the area.

 

One of the objectives of the energy policy is a rapid increase in the use of wind power, with the aim of raising production to 6 terawatt hours by 2020.

 

This means construction of approximately 700 new turbines of a generation capacity of 2,500 megawatts. The updated Energy and Climate Strategy sets the goal for wind power production at around 9 TWh by 2025. Electricity generated by the wind farms to be constructed in the proposed Bay of Bothnia wind power area is estimated to amount to more than 1 TWh in 2020.