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The Kaustinen region and the regional education association Kpedu have estimated that the strongly growing wind power industry needs dozens of electricians in Central Ostrobothnia every year. According to the regional survey, foreign companies supplying wind turbines are interested in hiring local labor. The Kaustinen region and Kpedu are now planning a competence center for the wind power industry in the province. Read more about Yle's news here.

On Monday, the European Commission published the renewable hydrogen criteria that investors and companies have been waiting for. Based on the criteria, investment decisions can be made for the production of pure hydrogen, when in the past many companies have been reluctant to make decisions. The regulation also resolved the issue of how closely hydrogen production must follow electricity production. Read more about the commission's publication in Helsingin Sanomat's news here.

Talouselämä reported on Carbon Brief's report, according to which the largest sources of electricity in Europe in 2022 were for the first time both wind and solar power. According to the report, wind and solar power replaced approx. 80% of the missing hydro and nuclear power. Increasing these renewable energy sources helped Europe survive the energy sector crisis. Read more about the report in the article here!

Last year, for the first time in the history of the entire world, as much money was invested in replacing fossil fuels as in the production of oil, gas and coal. 1.1 trillion euros were invested in the transition to clean energy and the transition was financed with a third more money compared to 2021. China is at the forefront of investments and almost half of the global energy transition investments were made in China. Read more about the historical twist in the MTV news article here.

The draft of the regional plan of South Ostrobothnia 2050 is now ready and available for viewing. The county plan serves as a basis that guides the municipalities' planning and official activities. The draft of the provincial plan provides strong support for the green transition and enables the deployment of wind power in approx. 28 new areas. Read more about the benefits of the draft provincial plan in the article by the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation (YLE) here!

One third of Finland's area is reindeer husbandry. Reindeer management and wind power industry operators have together solved the challenges involved in building wind power in the Northern Reindeer Management Area. The operating model helps the parties to take each other into account during the life cycle of the projects, and practices are implemented in regional trainings. Read more about opening a chat connection in the Finnish Wind Power Association's press release here!

During the year, Finland's wind power capacity increased by 75 % and 2430 megawatts of new wind power was built. Wind power is currently one of the industries that brings the most investment euros to Finland. Affordable wind electricity and wind power project portfolio are Finland's competitive advantages when looking for investment sites. Currently, the measures taken to combat the energy crisis are planned to be short-term and such that they do not weaken the willingness to invest in new electricity production in Finland. Read here in Finland...

Wärtsilä has calculated that wind power is a cheaper way to increase stable electricity production, i.e. basic power, than nuclear power. At the moment, many people think that Finland is too dependent on electricity imports and the country needs more stable domestic electricity production. Read more about how wind power production can be stabilized in Helsingin Sanomat's article here.

The working group appointed by the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs has completed its final report, which concerned the financing of Finland's green transition. The green transition still requires considerable funding, additional investments of at least 100 billion euros. As a counterweight to additional investments, the green transition creates significant opportunities for Finnish companies in the market. Read more about the final report of the working group in the Uusi Suomen article here.