Draft bill on promotion of offshore wind power in the exclusive economic zone sent out for comments

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has circulated for comments a draft government proposal proposing that a new act on offshore wind power in the exclusive economic zone be enacted and that the Act on the Exclusive Economic Zone of Finland and the Act on the Energy Authority be amended. The proposal implements the objective of clarifying the rules for offshore wind power in Finland’s exclusive economic zone as set out in the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government.

The aim of the proposal is to promote offshore wind energy by introducing clear rules for the exclusive economic zone. The exclusive economic zone is an international sea area that the State of Finland has the right to exploit economically. According to the proposal, the Government could decide on areas suitable for the use of offshore wind power and their competitive tendering. When selecting the areas, the Government would consider other uses of the sea, such as shipping, fishing and other offshore wind projects, as well as environmental factors as a whole. 

The Energy Authority would organise an open and transparent competitive tendering process to select the project developers. The tendering process would take into account both quality and price in the selection of winners. Provisions on the details of the tendering model will be laid down by decree. The winner of the competitive tendering process would have the exclusive right to apply for an exploitation permit from the Government for a specific area. The exploitation permit would be granted by the Government.

The exploitation permit would be an exclusive right to conduct studies in the area concerned and to exploit it for an offshore wind power project for a fixed period. An exploitation permit alone would not yet mean that an offshore wind power project is implemented, because implementation requires other permits too. The proposal would also specify which national legislation applies in Finland’s exclusive economic zone. 

The proposal allows the State to implement a fee for the use of an offshore wind power area. The winner of the tender would pay the State an exploitation fee during the production period of the offshore wind project. 

In territorial waters closer to the coast belonging to Finland, Metsähallitus is responsible for the management of public waters and allocates offshore wind areas to tenderers in accordance with its own competitive bidding model. 

The proposal has been prepared by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment as part of its official duties together with other ministries. The Ministry has organised two stakeholder events during the preparation. In addition, private consultations have taken place with offshore wind project developers.

The proposal concerns the 2025 budget proposal and is intended for consideration in connection with it. The laws are scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2025.

Comments on the draft bill can be submitted until 4 July 2024

Submit your comments on the public consultation website Lausuntopalvelu.fi. The deadline for submitting comments is 4 July 2024. The comments need not be sent separately by email or post to the ministries. To submit your comments, please register and sign in to the lausuntopalvelu.fi site. 

All opinions received are public and will be published on the website. If you cannot submit comments online, you may send them by email to kirjaamo.tem(at)gov.fi, including reference number VN/12957/2023 in your comment.

Inquiries: 
Outi Vilén, Chief Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 016 (primary contact person until 14 June) 
Tuuli Oikarinen, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 047 292 (especially legal matters, absent 25 May–23 June) 
Pekka Grönlund, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 064 815