The Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE news reports that according to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the consumption of electricity increases slower than expected in earlier forecasts and that the Ministry’s energy consumption estimation means there is room of two new nuclear power plants.
The time span of the new forecast of the Ministry reaches to the year 2030 and according to the estimate, Finland will consume some 100 TWh of electricity in 2030. Earlier it was expected that this amount would be reached sooner.
Taisto Turunen, Director General of the Energy Department of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, states that instead of increasing consumption of electricity in the industrial sector, smaller sectors’ consumption will increase. This includes heat pumps and especially needs of the traffic: Mr Turunen says the number of electric cars is expected to increase considerably.
The Ministry estimates that by the year 2030, Finland needs as much as 3500 megawatts of new electricity production.
Room for one or two new nuclear power plants
According to YLE, it is possible to conclude that on the basis of the estimate of the Ministry, Finland needs one or two new nuclear power plants.
Mauri Pekkarinen, Minister of Economic Affairs, says that on the basis of the report it is clear that by the year 2020 there is room for one nuclear power plant at most and the decision about a second plant will be postponed to be made by the next Parliament or the one after that.
Finnish Energy Industries (ET) is in favor of building new nuclear power plants and regards the energy consumption forecast of the Ministry as too modest. The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (SLL), in turn, concludes that the forecast shows there is no need at all for new nuclear power.
The Ministry’s forecast predicts that Finland will not reach its target to increase the share of renewable energy production to 38 per cent of the total consumption by the year 2020 even though the use of woodchips for energy production is expected to more than double and the wind power capacity to be even 20 times the present level within the next ten years.
