Finland Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in finland, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Overview

Finland is one of the world’s northern-most industrialized nations and Finland’s energy consumption per capita and energy needs are high due to its energy-intensive industry, cold climate, and high standard of living.

Finland does not have its own fossil fuels – coal, oil, or natural gas – but it does have wood-based fuels, rich reserves of peat, and extensive wood resources. The Government of Finland has set an objective to make Finland carbon-neutral by 2035 and carbon-negative soon after. The key pillar of Finland’s national climate policy is the Climate Change Act from 2015. The Act was updated in 2022 and sets new emission reduction targets for 2030 (down by 60 percent), 2040 (down by 80 percent), and 2050 (down by 90 percent, but aiming at a cut of 95 percent), compared to 1990 levels. The scope of the Act has been extended to cover the land use sector and includes a target for the land use sector on stronger carbon sinks. According to Finland’s Annual Climate Report, additional measures are needed, particularly to strengthen the carbon sink of the land use sector to enable the achievement of the Finnish land use sector’s obligation set at the EU level. Finland’s Climate and Energy Strategy and Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan was also updated in Septe

On an international scale, energy production and usage in Finland are efficient. Energy-intensive industries have long played a large role in the Finnish economy, spurring the development of efficiency-driven energy systems.

Finland is a world leader in smart grid technology. This is due to the early adoption of related technologies such as household-specific, remotely readable, accurate electricity consumption metering, and real-time power grid failure monitoring. This has led to improved energy use information for customers and real-time billing. Finland is now moving towards the next step of smart grid technologies to meet the increased volume of small-scale generation, customer-level energy storage, electric vehicles, and controllable loads with the intention of putting consumers “at the heart” of their energy and efficiency measures.

To attract investment, Finland is creating test platforms (smart networks, renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable, and smart energy solutions and systems and their related products and services) that are internationally attractive. Finland long had significant energy ties to Russia but has ceased all imports and consumption of Russian energy resources following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Imports of electricity and pipeline gas from Russia ceased in May 2022, and in the spring and summer 2022, imports of Russian crude oil were stopped. In September 2024, Finnish energy company Fortum announced that its Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant was using nuclear fuel from U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric, after Finnish authorities worked to find alternate sources of nuclear fuel. Fortum’s existing contracts with TVEL go on until 2027 and 2030.

Consumption of fossil fuels decreased by 10 percent in 2023 and was 30 percent of total energy consumption in 2023. The share of oil was 19 percent and coal five percent.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/finlands-fortum-starts-using-us-nuclear-fuel-bid-reduce-russian-dependence-2024-09-02/

Leading Sub-Sectors

Nuclear

Finland’s nuclear power operators are: Fortum Oyj, a Finnish state-owned energy company and operator of the Loviisa NPP; TVO Oyj (Teollisuuden Voima Oyj), operating the Olkiluoto NPP (OL1, OL2 and OL3); STUK, the Nuclear Safety Authority, which is the regulatory body in charge of supervising radiation and nuclear safety in Finland.

Finland has five operating nuclear reactors in two power plants all located on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Three of the reactors are in Olkiluoto, of which OL1 and OL2 are ASEA-Atom, Boiling Water Reactors and OL3 is an AREVA NP, Siemens AG, European Pressurized Water Reactor (ERP. The other two operating generators are VVER-440 V213 (Western I&C system and containment) Pressurized Water Reactors located at the Loviisa nuclear plant. The reactors provided 41.1 percent (32.75 TWh) of the total electricity generated in the country in 2023. There are no inactive reactors in Finland. The share of total energy consumption was 27 percent in 2023, which was an increase of 35 percent compared to 2022.

A sixth nuclear power plant, the Hanhikivi 1 NPP project in northern Finland, was in the works. It would have been operated by Fennovoima, a consortium of 67 companies and co-owned by RAOS Voima, a subsidiary of Russian Rosatom. The project was plagued by scheduling delays and cost overruns, and in May 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Fennovoima terminated the contract between Fennovoima and RAOS for the supply of the Hanhikivi 1 NPP and withdrew the Hanhikivi 1 NPP Construction License Application. The Municipality of Pyhäjoki is seeking investors for the Hanhikivi NPP, which the municipality claims offers the quickest pathway for nuclear construction anywhere in Europe given existing permits for the construction of two conventional reactors.

In April 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Finland and the United States on nuclear energy and nuclear waste management to intensify cooperation between the two countries, companies, and research institutes in Finland and the United States. The MoU emphasizes closer cooperation in nuclear energy technologies, nuclear waste management, and final disposal of radioactive waste, new types of nuclear reactors such as SMRs, nuclear safety, and nuclear fuels.

Finland sees SMRs as a strong potential option for developing clean energy production and has developed an EcoSMR HUB to facilitate discussion and small preliminary studies on selected topics for the basis of decisions on future projects and actions. The Hub will be funded by fees collected from the participants.

Critical Minerals

Finland is one of the leading mining countries in Europe and the mining industry plays an important role. There are more than 40 mining clusters producing metal ores and industrial minerals. Finland is Europe’s leading nickel producer and has cobalt and lithium in its bedrock. It is also the only EU member state with its own cobalt production. The lithium deposits of Central Ostrobothnia, first identified in the late 1950s, are among the most significant in Europe. Lithium production also will commence in Finland over the next few years.

Finland was the first country in Europe to classify its mineral reserves according to the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC). All public information on mineral deposits in Finland is available from the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) Mineral Deposits and Exploration map service (https://gtkdata.gtk.fi/mdae/index.html).

Finland has strengthened its mineral security by participating in the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), a U.S. U.S. initiative established in 2022. Finland also has expertise in the recycling and reuse of critical minerals and the practical implementation of sustainability topics. Finland’s stated objective for the mining sector is to expand and maximize the value of Finnish minerals and provide materials that enable Finland and Europe to strive for climate neutrality. Finland’s mining industry is a key reason why Finland offers an attractive location for vertically integrated sustainable battery production with access to local, short-traveled raw materials, abundant renewable power, and cooling water, plus an existing cluster of leading suppliers for the battery value chain.

Finland offers an attractive investment and operating environment for the exploration and mining industry. Its mining infrastructure is good, even in rural areas, and skilled subcontractors are available. There also is a mining excise tax levied against the mining companies that is low in comparison to most other industrialized countries. As of January 1, 2024, the mining tax is $0.6 per cent of the average market value of the previous calendar year for metallic minerals and $0.2 per ton for other minerals.

Finland’s diverse mineral resources represent a small portion of the Finnish national wealth. Finnish bedrock contains significant known deposits of many critical metals and minerals and has considerable potential for discovering new resources. Finland also has a globally recognized position as a leading supplier of skills and equipment in the minerals sector. Finland has several strengths as a supplier of mineral raw materials: good geological potential (bedrock and soil), transparent and predictable legislation, nationwide infrastructure networks, and a highly educated and competent workforce.

The Finnish government regulates the mining industry through two main laws, the Land Extraction Act (555/1981, Since January 1, 1982) and the Mining Act (621/2011, Since July 1, 2011). The objective of the Mining Act is to ensure that exploration and mining activities are conducted in an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable way.

Renewable Energy

Finland is a world leader in the use of renewable sources of energy, especially bioenergy including wood and wood-based fuels. The key target in promoting renewable energy is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move away from an energy system based on fossil fuels. According to Statistics Finland’s preliminary data for energy, the total consumption of energy in 2024 amounted to 1.29 million terajoules (TJ), and renewable 562 thousand terajoules. Renewable energy sources already represented 43 percent of energy end-consumption in 2024, and Finland has currently set a target of 51 percent for the share of renewable energy (gross final consumption) in compliance with the EU Renewable Energy Directive. The share of renewable energy in Finland’s gross final consumption is the second highest in the European Union after Sweden.

The use of renewable energy is influenced by Finland’s own energy and climate policies and the obligations and policy decisions under European Union climate and energy legislation, which have the EU committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. These are binding for Finland, impacting the market opportunities.

The most important forms of renewable energy used in Finland are bioenergy, fuels from the forest industry side streams and other wood-based fuels, hydropower, wind power, and air and ground-source heat pumps. Bioenergy is also generated from biodegradable waste and side streams of agriculture and industrial production, and from municipal waste. Solar electricity has a growing role especially where on-site energy generation substitutes for energy bought from the grid. Solar heating is used as a supplement to the main heating system.

Fingrid, Finland’s grid transmission system operator, is developing Finland’s main grid to provide a platform for a clean, emission-free power system with the flexibility to incorporate multiple resources in terms of frequency, transmission, and voltage management.

Wood-based fuels: Bioenergy has a key role in the production of renewable energy. Bioenergy production is largely integrated into the forestry industry. In recent years, energy derived from wood fuels has accounted for around one-fourth of Finland’s total energy consumption. Most wood fuels are byproducts of the forest industry, including black liquor derived from the pulp-making process and bark, sawdust, and other industrial wood residues. Logging residues and other low value biomass from harvesting operations are also used for energy generation.

In 2024, wood fuels covered 28 percent of total energy consumption, and they were the most used renewable energy source.

Hydropower: Emission-free electricity generated by hydropower presented 4.0 percent of the total energy consumption in 2024. The installed hydropower capacity currently is 13.3 TWh with no significant change foreseen to occur in the coming years.

Wind power: Wind power construction in Finland began later than in many other European countries. However, in recent years wind power construction has gained momentum and national construction and production statistics have set new records year after year. In 2024, wind power generated more than 19.8 TWh of electricity, accounting for 24 percent of total electricity consumption. Geothermal energy: Geothermal energy (or geo-energy as it often called in Finland) has taken remarkable jumps forward during the last five years. A heat pump boom started with air-coupled heat pumps, which are still popular and remain the most sold. But the trend is shifting more to Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) both in small scale/residential use and in large-scale projects. Geo-energy is expected to take an even greater share of the renewable energy landscape in the years to come.

Solar: Despite its northern location, Finland gets roughly as much sunshine as countries such as Germany and Denmark on an annual basis. In the summer, the long days and nearly round-the-clock sunlight compensate for the dark winters. Finland’s advantage is its low atmospheric temperature, which improves the efficiency of solar photovoltaic cells. The colder it gets, the better the solar panels work. The main technical challenges in Finland are related to intermittency of available solar energy (day-night and summer-winter cycles), particularly in the Arctic region. The share of solar power capacity in Finland grew by 61 percent in 2024, but the share is still a modest proportion of the nation’s total power generation covering only one percent of the electricity consumption.
 

Opportunities

Associations

  • Finnish Wind Power Association/ Renewables Finland Association: Wind and solar power projects.

  • EcoSMR: Internationally networked Finnish system dedicated to the development of small modular reactors (SMRs)

  • Finnuclear Association, 2023 Directory

  • TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) online version of “Supplement to the Official Journal” of the EU, dedicated to European public procurement. Finnish energy companies use open tenders as required by European Union (EU) regulations.

Events

  • Wind Finland, September 30, 2025, in Helsinki is the biggest wind power seminar in Finland, gathering more than 500 participants from more than 12 countries.

  • Energia, October 20-22, 2026, in Tampere is the largest biennial energy industry trade event. Focus on energy transition, energy production, power transmission, and storage.

  • Nordic Hydrogen Week, February 10-14, 2025, in Oulu, will showcase TOP-10 hydrogen projects from the Nordic countries. It will bring together hundreds of international industry leaders, innovators, researchers, and policymakers to discuss the future of hydrogen energy in the Nordic region.

  • EnergyWeek, March 17-20, 2025, in Vaasa focuses on renewable energy, smart energy, and gas energy. Focus on digitalization, batteries and storage, circular economy, future smart cities, energy regulation, business, and innovation.

Resources

  • Statistics Finland, Energy 2023

  • Statistics Finland, Environment and Natural Resources

  • Total energy consumption by energy source (all categories), 1970-2023*

  • State Treasury Republic of Finland

Information

Interested parties may contact Commercial Specialist Tiina Ketelä-Juvonen, tiina.ketela@trade.gov