Finland to Launch New Offshore Wind Tenders This Year, Plans Auctioning Off Five Sites in 2023-2024

April 7, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Finland is preparing to open competitive tenders for two offshore wind sites in September-October this year and to auction off two further sites in 2024, with plans to award a fifth site next year, as well.

This is according to Metsähallitus, Finland’s administrator of state-owned land and water areas, which said more than 6 GW of offshore wind capacity would be procured through the five sites off the western coast of the country, located offshore the municipalities of Siikajoki, Hailuoto, Pyhäjoki and Raahe, Närpiö and Kristiinankaupunki.

The sites have been designated as suitable for offshore wind in preliminary studies and have also received permission from the Finnish Defence Forces, and are now moving forward after the zoning initiatives of the project areas were submitted to the local municipalities.

The municipalities Kristiinankaupunki and Närpiö will take the planning initiatives into the municipal process after the draft of Ostrobothnia’s provincial plan has been published. The energy and climate phase provincial plan of Northern Ostrobothnia, covering the areas of the remaining municipalities, has already been published, Metsähallitus says.

In addition to the five sites that will be put out to tender in 2023-2024, Finland has also identified two more offshore wind farm areas on the west coast, whose further development will be decided later.

The Finnish state-owned enterprise says the country is now accelerating the development of new offshore wind areas after the experience gained from the first tendering process, which saw Vattenfall being chosen as the developer of the country’s first large-scale offshore wind project last year.

In December 2022, Vattenfall and Metsähallitus entered a joint venture to build and operate the 1.3 GW offshore wind farm, located at Korsnäs off the Finnish west coast and scheduled to be operational in the early 2030s.

“The tendering process for the first offshore wind farm at the end of last year showed that Finland is seen as an attractive investment environment for both domestic and international companies”, said Juha S. Niemelä, Director General at Metsähallitus.

The Finnish government approved the offshore wind power auction model for public water areas in 2021, according to which Metsähallitus offers areas for use by wind power companies. The wind farm areas remain state property and the rental income forms part of the result that Metsähallitus reports to the state.

The country’s offshore wind power programme supports its goal of being carbon neutral by 2035 as well as, among other things, becoming a leading player in the hydrogen economy in Europe, according to Metsähallitus.

“The development of five new offshore wind farms proves that Finland is fully committed to increasing the capacity of emission free energy. This, in turn, enables large-scale investments in green transition”, Juha S. Niemelä said.

Finland currently had 44.3 MW of operating offshore wind capacity at the Tahkoluoto wind farm off Pori. Commissioned in 2017, the wind farm is owned and operated by Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy. The company has announced plans to expand the wind farm by up to 500 MW.