Energy use of coal to end in Finland during spring

The use of coal in Finnish energy production will end this spring as energy companies Helen and Vantaan Energia will close their last remaining power plant units using coal. The energy use of coal will thus end four years before the deadline of May 2029 required by law. In this way, Finland is taking another major step towards an energy system that is cleaner, more self-sufficient and climate neutral.

“With coal no longer in use, this imported fossil energy will be replaced with cleaner solutions that reduce climate emissions, while consumers benefit from lower energy prices,” said Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala at an event celebrating the closure of Helen’s last coal-fired power plant on 1 April 2025.

“I would like to congratulate Helen and all Finnish energy companies for their determination to end the energy use of coal in Finland. In 2019, Parliament unanimously passed the law to ban the use of coal for energy within ten years. At that time, the target seemed challenging, but now that it has been met four years ahead of schedule, passing the law appears very far-sighted,” Multala added. 

Decisions to phase out coal date back to the 2010s

Coal played a key role in Finland’s electricity and heat production for a long time. Ending the use of coal has been the result of a determined energy policy extending beyond government terms. Already in the 2010s, Finland chose phasing out the use of coal in electricity and heat production as the first means of reducing fossil emissions. The Act on Prohibiting the Use of Coal as an Energy Source, which was passed in 2019, gave a strong signal of the direction of society. The decision was the first of its kind in the world.

Many mutually supportive trends have contributed to this development: the EU emissions trading system, state investment aid, Finland’s role as a founding member of the international Powering Past Coal alliance in 2017, and the ambition of energy companies to achieve climate targets. Security of supply has not compromised however; the closure of power plants has been scheduled in a way that ensures security of supply and a sufficient amount of energy also during exceptional winters.

The closures of Helen’s plant in Salmisaari and Vantaan Energia’s unit in Martinlaakso are part of a broader energy transition, in which fossil production is replaced by renewable and low-carbon solutions. Moving forward, the companies will produce heat with electric boilers, heat pumps, energy storage, bioenergy and recovery of waste, among other things. The main focus of electricity production will be on wind, nuclear, hydro and solar power.

Phasing out coal will bring significant benefits: emissions will fall considerably, self-sufficiency in energy production will increase and customers will benefit from lower prices of heat. At the same time, energy companies have improved their competitiveness and laid the foundation for new technologies, such as carbon capture and green hydrogen production. Fossil production has also been replaced by wind, solar, and nuclear power. Society as a whole will benefit from a more stable, sustainable and climate-friendly energy system.

Inquiries:
Lyydia Ylönen, Special Adviser to the Minister of Climate and the Environment, tel. +358 50 476 1341 Petteri Kuuva, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. + 358 295 064 819