On 23 May 2024, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment published the eagerly awaited draft government proposal on the act on offshore wind power in the exclusive economic zone and for certain related acts. The new regulation would create a model with which the state chooses the marine areas in the exclusive economic zone that are applicable to development of offshore wind farm projects and selects the project developers for those areas. The exclusive economic zone is an international sea area that the state of Finland has the right to exploit economically.
27.5.2024
Draft proposal on the new act on offshore wind power in the exclusive economic zone sent out for comments
Samuli Tarkiainen, Kanerva Sunila, Helinä Pohjanlaakso & Sonja Leinonen
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The deadline for submitting comments on the draft proposal is 4 July 2024, so the right time to influence the contents of the regulation is now. It is estimated that the government proposal will be presented to Parliament in calendar week 39, which is the last full week of September. The acts are scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2025.
The choice of offshore wind farm areas and project developers
The exclusive economic zone is currently subject to the Act on the Exclusive Economic Zone of Finland (1058/2004). The aim is that in future the new act on offshore wind power in the exclusive economic zone would apply to wind farms, electric stations and hydrogen production plants in the exclusive economic zone. However, electricity transport cables and hydrogen pipes located in the exclusive economic zone would still be subject to the Act on the Exclusive Economic Zone of Finland.
The offshore wind farm areas in the exclusive economic zone would be chosen by a government decision after an environmental impact assessment of plans and programmes is conducted. Project developers would be selected in a competitive tendering process organised by the Energy Authority, and the offer with the best price-quality ratio would determine the winner. Tenderers would receive points both for the exploitation fee they offer and for quality factors, including the tenderer’s financial situation, experience, knowhow and ability to further the project, environmental impact of the project, promotion of local acceptance, grid connectivity, security and factors required by EU regulation.
The winner of the competitive tendering process organised by the Energy Authority would receive the exclusive right to apply for an exploitation permit from the government for the area put out to tender. The exploitation permit would include terms and conditions in relation to factors such as the exploitation fee, operations, project deadlines and promotion guarantee. In addition to an exploitation permit, a wind farm project requires an environmental impact assessment procedure and a water management permit, among other things.
Connecting offshore wind power to the main grid
Increased offshore wind farm project development requires investments in the power grid as well. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is currently working on a reform of the Electricity Market Act to integrate the increasing power generation and growing consumption loads to the main grid and high-voltage distribution network. Fingrid recently published a study on preliminary possibilities to connect offshore wind power to the main grid. Fingrid welcomes feedback on the study until 23 June.
The experts in our Environment, Infrastructure & Natural Resources team and International Construction & Projects team are happy to answer question about offshore wind power in the exclusive economic zone and other related questions.
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