A Nordic country, Finland shares a long border with Russia. In Finland, an advanced, industrialized nation, energy consumption per capita is high. This is due to the cold, severe climate, long distances, high standard of living, and structure of Finnish industry.
Finland's energy consumption has increased more than 50 percent since the early 1970s. During the same period, industrial output and the total volume of construction have more than doubled. On an international scale, energy production and usage in Finland are quite efficient, corresponding to resource availability, production structure, and geographical location.
Finland is the fifth largest country in Europe, but has a population of only 5.3 million, mostly concentrated in urban areas. The share of forestland in Finland is the highest in Europe (about 70 percent). More than two-thirds of Finns live in urban areas; only 1.6 percent north of the Arctic Circle. Finland does not have its own fossil fuels -- coal, oil or natural gas -- but does have bio fuels, rich reserves of peat, and extensive wood resources.
Energy-intensive industries play a large role in the Finnish economy, which has spurred the development of efficient energy systems. The pulp and paper industry supplies over two-fifths of heat and electricity needs by utilizing solid and liquid wood residues. In Finland, peat has been defined as slowly renewing biomass fuel. It has a substantial share, 6 percent, of Finland’s energy balance. As indigenous fuel, peat has a considerable effect on regional policy. It increases employment and security of the energy supply.
In December 2003, the power utility, Teollisuuden Voima Oy, placed an order for a new nuclear power plant -- Finland's fifth commercial reactor -- from the French-German company, Framatome ANP, and the turbine plant from German Siemens. The Framatome ANP–Siemens consortium will supply the nuclear power plant unit as a turnkey delivery. The new nuclear power plant will cost about €3 billion, which makes it the largest single investment ever in Finland.
The construction of a fifth commercial nuclear reactor was authorized by the Parliament in 2002 after years of controversy. The location of the power plant will be in Olkiluoto, located at Eurajoki, some 150 miles Northwest of Helsinki. The new plant was originally estimated to be operational in 2009, but the project has suffered from delays, and it is now estimated that the installation will not be ready until early 2011. The plant's power output will be about 1,600 MW. The building of the plant was begun in early 2004.
Finland is actively expanding the role of renewable energy in energy production, in accordance with the Finnish Action Plan for Renewable Energy, launched by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1999 and updated in 2002. The goal is to double the utilization of renewable energy sources by 2025, relative to 2001, when the share of renewable energy was about 23 percent -- 317 petajoules (PJ) or 7.6 Mtoe -- of total energy consumption. The increase will be achieved primarily from increased utilization of bio energy. Wind power is rapidly gaining popularity worldwide and is an emerging form of power generation in Finland.