Team of IEA experts to arrive in Finland to evaluate the country’s energy policy

A team of experts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) will visit Finland from 21 to 25 May 2012 to evaluate the energy policies implemented in the country in recent years. The thematic focus of this year’s country review will be on bioenergy. The previous country review in Finland was carried out in 2007.

The country review conducted by the IEA, an organisation within the OECD, is a peer evaluation in which the team of experts evaluating Finland this year includes members from the IEA’s secretariat, the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the European Commission, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Next week, the team will meet key players in energy policies and engage in dialogue with officials, operators and representatives of various lobbies and NGOs.

The team will announce its key observations at the end of its visit. After the visit, the secretariat of the IEA will draft a country review report together with the evaluation team. The final report will be released in February-March 2013, presenting evaluations of the state of energy policies and issuing recommendations for necessary new policy measures.

Previous evaluation commended diversity in energy generation and R&D activities

The previous country review in Finland was carried out in 2007. According to the report released in spring 2008, Finland has succeeded in finding good practical solutions for promoting aspects of energy safety, environmental sustainability and economic efficiency.

The report commended the diversity of domestic energy generation, which relies on many different sources of energy, including in particular nuclear power, biomass and hydropower. Finland was described as a leading country in the research and development of energy technology.

In 2008, Finland was encouraged to pay attention to strengthening long-term policy measures aiming at energy efficiency. Similarly, the report recommended that, in addition to the delivery reliability of imported energy, Finland focus on the diversity of domestic energy generation and on new renewable energy sources and to continue to consider energy safety aspects.

Additional information:

Maria Kekki, Senior Inspector, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 50 434 4924
Ville Niemi, expert, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 50 396 0075

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