The public and political tide in Europe is turning away from long-standing oil and natural gas import policies
Finland’s first new nuclear power plant in more than 40 years started test production over the weekend, the next step in the tiny Nordic country’s continuing push for energy independence – a strategy that has taken on increasing importance as the European Union grapples with its energy relationship with Russia.
But the country is looking to scale both of those back. On the power generation side, that goal will soon be helped along by Olkiluoto 3, the first nuclear plant to open in Europe in more than a decade. Riku Huttunen is the Director-General for Energy at Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Energy diversification wasn’t exactly penned onto the country’s books as a specific policy, he said in an interview. Rather, it evolved from a long-standing Finnish mindset to always ensure the country has options.
When Moscow uses its energy resources for its own political targets, it’s “important for Finland to be prepared for the situations when we’ll not be able to import fuels and electricity power from Russia,” the agency’s director of its energy department, Pia Oesch, told The Globe. The Finnish government isn’t postponing a decision on the project’s permits, but “you might guess what are the feelings today” about Russian involvement in a nuclear plant within Finland’s borders, he added.
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