14 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN FINLAND: FROM A PRODUCTION-CENTRIC …
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solar energy potential of over four million Finnish rooftops and offering
respective solutions to business properties, blocks of flats and detached
houses alike (Sun Energia 2019). The increasing share of renewable
energy is an important policy goal, yet it is associated with at least three
major types of disruptive trends and problems shaping Finland’s emerging
energy system.
First, a higher share of renewable energy supports the gradual electrification of the energy system, society and the economy. Renewable
energy facilitates electrification of transport by replacing fuels with battery
EVs and through electricity used in fuel production (Nylund 2015).
In the heating sector, electrification progresses largely as an unintended
and non-planned development. Heat pumps, which generate heat from
electricity with a ratio of approximately 1–5, depending on the temperature difference, became a common heating solution in Finnish detached
houses during the 2010s. During the colder periods, especially air-source
heat pumps will use considerable amounts of electricity and are typically supplemented by other heat sources like fuels or district heating.
Meanwhile, district heating systems face shrinking annual demand due to
improving energy efficiency and heat pumps that have started to replace
district heating service even in cities (Heljo et al. 2016, p. 6). Counting
all geothermal, air-to-air and other heat pump solutions in residential
housing and industry, by 2020, Finland may have one million heat pumps
installed in a country of five million people, and accounting for approximately 15% of space heating consumption (SULPU 2017). The industrial
sector consumes almost half of current final energy use (TEM 2016,
pp. 28–33). In this sector, a major part of energy use is heated at different
temperatures while electricity could also be used to generate the heat.
This will increasingly take place when electricity becomes cheaper than
burning fuels due to falling renewable energy prices or due to increasing
fuel costs. Improving competitiveness of electricity over fuels could also
electrify a large share of the metal industry. Eventually, electricity can also
be used to produce ingredients for chemical and agricultural industries
through carbon (and nitrogen) capture. The same ingredients can also be
used to produce fuels for those energy use cases that cannot be readily
electrified (e.g. part of aviation).
Second, the influx of renewable energy contributes to the decentralisation of the energy system where a structure of geographically
decentralised wind and solar generation replaces generation from large
centralised power plants. In Finnish conditions, wind and solar power
351
solar energy potential of over four million Finnish rooftops and offering
respective solutions to business properties, blocks of flats and detached
houses alike (Sun Energia 2019). The increasing share of renewable
energy is an important policy goal, yet it is associated with at least three
major types of disruptive trends and problems shaping Finland’s emerging
energy system.
First, a higher share of renewable energy supports the gradual electrification of the energy system, society and the economy. Renewable
energy facilitates electrification of transport by replacing fuels with battery
EVs and through electricity used in fuel production (Nylund 2015).
In the heating sector, electrification progresses largely as an unintended
and non-planned development. Heat pumps, which generate heat from
electricity with a ratio of approximately 1–5, depending on the temperature difference, became a common heating solution in Finnish detached
houses during the 2010s. During the colder periods, especially air-source
heat pumps will use considerable amounts of electricity and are typically supplemented by other heat sources like fuels or district heating.
Meanwhile, district heating systems face shrinking annual demand due to
improving energy efficiency and heat pumps that have started to replace
district heating service even in cities (Heljo et al. 2016, p. 6). Counting
all geothermal, air-to-air and other heat pump solutions in residential
housing and industry, by 2020, Finland may have one million heat pumps
installed in a country of five million people, and accounting for approximately 15% of space heating consumption (SULPU 2017). The industrial
sector consumes almost half of current final energy use (TEM 2016,
pp. 28–33). In this sector, a major part of energy use is heated at different
temperatures while electricity could also be used to generate the heat.
This will increasingly take place when electricity becomes cheaper than
burning fuels due to falling renewable energy prices or due to increasing
fuel costs. Improving competitiveness of electricity over fuels could also
electrify a large share of the metal industry. Eventually, electricity can also
be used to produce ingredients for chemical and agricultural industries
through carbon (and nitrogen) capture. The same ingredients can also be
used to produce fuels for those energy use cases that cannot be readily
electrified (e.g. part of aviation).
Second, the influx of renewable energy contributes to the decentralisation of the energy system where a structure of geographically
decentralised wind and solar generation replaces generation from large
centralised power plants. In Finnish conditions, wind and solar power