If approved by parliament, this measure would mean the end of the existing feed-in tariff system in Finland, which could save the government some 70-80 million euros in 2020.
In a released statement, Finland’s Ministry of Employment and Economy said: “The present system can no longer be considered a sufficiently cost-effective and market-orientated incentive system… the aim of the proposal is, in accordance with the Government programme, to reduce spending in the state budget on production subsidies for wind energy.”
The deadline has been proposed because the system has already received more applications than it can accept under the 2000 MW cap set earlier. Currently, there have been 800 MW of accepted applications, whereas another 720 MW look likely to be accepted although there is an additional 1100 MW waiting for a decision.
However, the government was keen to allay fears that the EU renewable energy target would be missed, noting that Finland is already close to its target of 38 per cent and that the losses in wind power will be made up in biomass power.