Onshore wind farms profitable in 5 years time in Finland

Research indicates that onshore wind farms in Finland could be profitable sooner than thought, writes the newspaper Turun Sanomat. According to a survey carried out by Aalto University, wind farms in Finland could be profitable in approximately 5 years.

If the research proves to be correct, Finnish government subsidies for onshore greenfield wind farms could be reduced from next year onwards and be unnecessary by 2015.

Offshore wind farms would be not affected, according to researcher Jani Laine at the faculty of Energy Technology at Aalto University in Finland. The research indicates that Finnish government subsidies for wind farms could not be phased out before 2020 at the earliest.

Legislation on renewable energy is currently being discussed by parliamentary committees in Finland. The Finnish government has agreed to finance energy subsidies for wind farms up to a maximum of 12 years.