Finland Closes Salmissari Coal-Fired Power Plant

Finland’s Power utility Helen on Tuesday announced that it has decommissioned its 177 MW Salmisaari coal plant, bringing Finland to the brink of a full coal phase-out four years ahead of schedule.

By doing this, Finland lowered its reliance on coal for power generation to below 1%, an achievement that reached four years ahead of schedule.

 Coal power generation has declined in Finland in recent years, thanks to a surge in wind power and clear political direction. Since 2020, wind generation has more than doubled and now supplies a quarter of the country’s electricity. Over the same period, coal-fired generation has plummeted by 73%, dropping to less than 1% of the electricity mix, while fossil gas is down 82%.

This shift was sparked by the Finnish Parliament’s 2019 law to ban coal from 2029, sending a strong signal to utilities and investors. Similar to the UK, which phased out coal last year thanks to a surge in wind power, Finland has replaced imported fossil fuels with domestically produced wind power, strengthening energy security, cutting emissions, and boosting economic competitiveness.

A recent report from the Confederation of Finnish Industries found that wind power is “the biggest enabler of Finland’s economic growth”, accounting for $26.08 billion (44%) of all green industrial investments expected to move ahead in Finland.

Beyond Fossil Fuels Deputy Director Cyrille Cormier said that Finland has shown what’s possible when clear political signals were matched with rapid investments in renewable power.

“Wind alone has more than covered the gap left by coal and fossil gas, proving that renewable energy can be scaled fast, particularly when government policy creates the right conditions. It’s time to formalise what’s already happening and bring the coal exit forward,” Cormier pointed out.

Minna Sumelius, Executive Director at civil society organisation Coal-Free Finland, whose campaigning has played a key role in securing the closure of Salmisaari, said that the demands of the Coal-Free Helsinki campaign and the broader environmental movement to phase out coal power were once considered impossible.

“However, closing down the Helsinki coal plants will cumulatively reduce Finland’s total emissions by 5%. This is a clear demonstration of the transformative power of the climate movement,” Sumelius said.

Other Coal-Fired Plants                      

Together with Salmisaari, Finland’s two remaining coal-burning plants—Vaskiluoto 2 and Martinlaakso 2—contributed 0.8% of the country’s electricity in 2024. Vaskiluoto 2 uses coal for about 30% of its fuel. Martinlaakso 2 is also co-fired with coal and biomass. Its operator plans to stop burning fossil fuels in 2026. A third coal plant, Meri-Pori, remains only in strategic reserve.

While Finland’s infamous Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant has added some generation capacity, its 13-year delay and ballooning costs make it a textbook example of why nuclear power is too slow and too costly when compared to sustainable renewable power solutions.

The bulk of Finland’s progress towards fossil-free power has come from wind, and will be further propelled by investing in an increasingly flexible grid.

According to Cormier, Finland was now on the cusp of a fossil-free power system. But the right way to finish the job isn’t with biomass that can pollute as much as coal, nor with delayed, ridiculously expensive nuclear projects. It’s by doubling down on rapidly scalable renewables and clean flexibility that maximise their potential, he added.