A Comparative Overview on Legislation by Mari Tepp, Robert Schachtschneider & Robert Brückmann

The following policy report will elaborate on the distinct legislative framework for the promotion of wind energy in Germany and Finland. Regarding the inert development of wind power in Finland, we aim to stimulate debate by singling out the German wind energy market as a successful model for a developed wind energy market.

Status quo of wind power

According to the EU 2009 renewable energy directive (2009/28/EC), the share of renewable energies in gross final energy consumption is to be an average of 20% by 2020 for the entire EU. This target is divided into binding individual Member State targets, which for Germany is set at 18%, whereas for Finland at 38% of the final energy consumption. For the coming years this demands considerable efforts to be taken by both countries as the current share is still considerably lower (see graph 1). According to Eurostat, Finland currently produces 26.5% and Germany 17 % of its electricity from RES. However, when looking at the evolution in energy generation in both countries since 1990, significant differences appear. Thanks to its large hydro and biomass resources, Finland was able to cover a quarter of its electricity consumption by renewable energy already in the early 1990s. Since then, however, the RES-E share has increased only by about 2%. During the same time Germany was able to increase the share of RES-E by almost five times. Read more...