14 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN FINLAND: FROM A PRODUCTION-CENTRIC …
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wind power developer (Tuuliwatti Oy) is owned by a Finnish gasoline
dealer (ST1) and the country’s major cooperative supermarket chain
(S-ryhmä). Foreign and domestic capital investment funds also own some
production (Taaleri Oy, Allianz), as do smaller companies and private
individuals (Tuulivoimayhdistys 2019). In the solar power sector, the
actors range from utilities to large international equipment providers
to small companies and consultancies offering turnkey and installation
services, as well as specialised solutions to businesses, farms, housing
cooperatives and private individuals.
The solar PV panel solutions can empower prosumers or small-scale
producers and consumers of energy, and blocks of flats wishing to produce
part of their own power. In some pilot projects, PV panels are combined
with heat pumps, or so far in rare cases, solar thermal collectors. Energy
cooperatives or microgrid developers for example in remote locations
can utilise small-scale bio-CHP or biogas solutions (Uski et al. 2018).
However, so far, these early adopters of the more decentralised solutions operate largely in small niches compared to the established role
of the incumbent companies. Indeed, Finnish energy policies incentivise
mainly companies for reforms, while much fewer incentives exist for
private individuals or cooperatives (Kotilainen et al. 2018). In this regard,
the situation differs drastically from Denmark where cooperatives are
widespread (Eikeland and Inderberg 2016).
To better reach the citizens, one incumbent company develops a “virtual battery” concept consisting, for example, of electrically controllable
boilers of detached houses or other properties, and of highly energy
consuming data centres, which are linked together by the grid operator
to market a flexibility of energy use service for DSOs (Fortum 2019).
The transmission system operator (TSO) Fingrid develops a concept for
prospective aggregators of reserve power, which would also offer flexibility of electricity use service for small consumers (Fingrid 2018). Yet
so far, DSOs have varying tariffs for policies for small-scale production
fed into their grid. Regarding the possibility of aggregating the reserve
power prospectively enabled by the batteries of EVs through vehicle-togrid technologies (V2G), the 2030 Energy Strategy targets 250,000 EVs.
Assuming 3.5 kW per vehicle, this could theoretically provide 880 MW
of peak load capacity, which is the capacity of the Olkiluoto 1 nuclear
power plant (Kojo et al. 2018). However, in practice V2G is far from
widespread utilization and with limited policy attention thus far (Kester
et al. 2018). In Finland, a two-way charging point pilot project exists in
359
wind power developer (Tuuliwatti Oy) is owned by a Finnish gasoline
dealer (ST1) and the country’s major cooperative supermarket chain
(S-ryhmä). Foreign and domestic capital investment funds also own some
production (Taaleri Oy, Allianz), as do smaller companies and private
individuals (Tuulivoimayhdistys 2019). In the solar power sector, the
actors range from utilities to large international equipment providers
to small companies and consultancies offering turnkey and installation
services, as well as specialised solutions to businesses, farms, housing
cooperatives and private individuals.
The solar PV panel solutions can empower prosumers or small-scale
producers and consumers of energy, and blocks of flats wishing to produce
part of their own power. In some pilot projects, PV panels are combined
with heat pumps, or so far in rare cases, solar thermal collectors. Energy
cooperatives or microgrid developers for example in remote locations
can utilise small-scale bio-CHP or biogas solutions (Uski et al. 2018).
However, so far, these early adopters of the more decentralised solutions operate largely in small niches compared to the established role
of the incumbent companies. Indeed, Finnish energy policies incentivise
mainly companies for reforms, while much fewer incentives exist for
private individuals or cooperatives (Kotilainen et al. 2018). In this regard,
the situation differs drastically from Denmark where cooperatives are
widespread (Eikeland and Inderberg 2016).
To better reach the citizens, one incumbent company develops a “virtual battery” concept consisting, for example, of electrically controllable
boilers of detached houses or other properties, and of highly energy
consuming data centres, which are linked together by the grid operator
to market a flexibility of energy use service for DSOs (Fortum 2019).
The transmission system operator (TSO) Fingrid develops a concept for
prospective aggregators of reserve power, which would also offer flexibility of electricity use service for small consumers (Fingrid 2018). Yet
so far, DSOs have varying tariffs for policies for small-scale production
fed into their grid. Regarding the possibility of aggregating the reserve
power prospectively enabled by the batteries of EVs through vehicle-togrid technologies (V2G), the 2030 Energy Strategy targets 250,000 EVs.
Assuming 3.5 kW per vehicle, this could theoretically provide 880 MW
of peak load capacity, which is the capacity of the Olkiluoto 1 nuclear
power plant (Kojo et al. 2018). However, in practice V2G is far from
widespread utilization and with limited policy attention thus far (Kester
et al. 2018). In Finland, a two-way charging point pilot project exists in