Finland Designates Four Offshore Wind Development Zones and Issues Bidding Rules

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 5, the Finnish government formally designated four offshore wind development areas in the exclusive economic zone, issued competitive bidding regulations, and submitted to Parliament amendments to the law on the construction and decommissioning management of offshore wind facilities. The four areas are located in the Bothnian Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. The Finnish Energy Authority plans to launch the first round of bidding as early as the first half of 2027 to select project developers through competitive procedures. This decision marks the entry of the four maritime areas into the bidding preparation stage.

The four development zones include the western Bothnian Sea (Selkämeri länsi), the eastern Bothnian Sea (Selkämeri itä), the southern Gulf of Bothnia (Perämeri etelä), and the northern Gulf of Bothnia (Perämeri pohjoinen). Among them, the southern Gulf of Bothnia will be the first to launch bidding, while the other three areas will follow in batches. One developer will be selected for each area through competitive bidding. The winning enterprise may apply to the Finnish government for a maritime area utilization permit, conduct further marine surveys, and obtain other permits required for project construction.

Under the newly issued bidding regulations, project evaluation adopts a combination of price and quality, with each indicator accounting for 50% of the total score. Bidding enterprises must submit bid security as required, and winning enterprises must also provide performance security. The amount of performance security will gradually increase with project development progress, with relatively low initial security requirements, and the relevant security obligations will be released after the project is actually completed.

The Finnish government also proposed amendments to the Water Act to add specific provisions on the construction, dismantling, and decommissioning security of offshore wind facilities in the exclusive economic zone. Under the proposed amendments, offshore wind farms should in principle be fully dismantled after the end of their operational life, and the regulatory authority may assess the scope of dismantling of sub-seabed structures on a case-by-case basis. Decommissioning security funds are intended to be established gradually mainly after the project is put into operation, and the corresponding decommissioning obligations will also cover offshore wind projects within Finland's territorial waters. The relevant legislative amendments are planned to take effect in spring 2027.

This designation of areas is implemented pursuant to the Act on Offshore Wind Power in the Exclusive Economic Zone (937/2024), which entered into force on January 1, 2025. The Finnish government has completed planning-level environmental impact assessments and preliminary reviews of Natura protected areas for the four development zones, and detailed environmental investigations will be the responsibility of the winning developers. The Finnish government has made clear that this round of offshore wind development in the exclusive economic zone will not include a state subsidy mechanism, and estimates that it may take 10 to 15 years from competitive bidding to the start of power generation.