HELSINKI: Total energy consumption in 2015 amounted to 1,301 petajoule or 361 TWh, which was three per cent less than in 2014, according to Statistics Finland’s preliminary data. Electricity consumption amounted to 82.5 TWh, down by around one per cent year-on-year. The record warm weather last year decreased the need for heating energy compared with 2014.
Among energy sources, the consumption of coal declined by 18 per cent and that of natural gas by 16 per cent. Carbon dioxide emissions from the production and use of energy went down by six per cent, the statistics show.
Among individual energy sources, the largest reduction of 18 per cent was seen in the consumption of coal, which was also affected by two coal condensate plants being transferred into long-term preservation due to profitability problems. Consumption of natural gas also contracted by 16 per cent, that of peat by 11 per cent, and of wood fuels by two per cent.
The consumption of oil remained at last year’s level. The main energy sources are wood fuels with a 26 per cent share and oils with a 24 per cent share. The use of fossil fuels decreased by seven per cent from the previous year and their share in the total energy consumption was 37 per cent. The use of renewable energy increased by two per cent and the share rose close to that of fossil fuels, to 35 per cent.
EU targets for renewable energy are calculated relative to final energy consumption and in Finland this share has been three to five percentage points higher than the share calculated from total energy consumption. Finland’s target for the share of renewable energy is 38 per cent of final energy consumption in 2020, which was reached for the first time in 2014.
Final consumption of energy went down by one per cent. According to preliminary data, the share of manufacturing in final energy consumption was 45 per cent, which was unchanged from twelve months before.
The share of space heating of buildings was one-quarter of the final consumption of energy, which was 5 per cent less than one year ago. The use of energy consumption in transport increased by one per cent and its share was 17 per cent.
Domestic production of electricity was 66.2 TWh, which was one per cent more than one year ago. Most electricity was produced with nuclear power, which accounted for 34 per cent of the total.
The warmer than average weather last year affected the drop in the volume of electricity generated in combined heat and power production by nearly seven per cent. The share of combined production in the production of electricity was still second highest at 31 per cent.
The low price of electricity on the Nordic electricity market affected, in particular, condensing power, the production of which declined by 31 per cent and the share contracted to seven per cent.
Thanks to the improved water situation, the share of electricity produced with hydro power grew to 25 per cent. Electricity produced with wind power increased by 111 per cent and its proportion of electricity production stood at nearly four per cent. In 2015, net import of electricity to Finland was 16.3 TWh, which is nine per cent less than in the record year 2014 as per the data. The share of net imports in the electricity consumed in Finland was 20 per cent. Most electricity was imported from Sweden, 17.4 TWh.
Electricity imports from Russia increased by 16 per cent to 3.9 TWh. Nearly all electricity exports were directed at Estonia, to where more electricity was exported than ever before, 5.0 TWh. In June, electricity was exported for the first time to Russia for commercial reasons.
Last year, diverse energy products were imported into Finland to the value of EUR 7.8 billion, which was 36 per cent less than one year earlier. Most energy products were imported from Russia, whose share of the value of imports was around 60 per cent.
