Caruna's area reached 300 megawatts of solar power - the production capacity has quadrupled in three years

By June 2024, 300 megawatts of solar power production capacity have been connected to Caruna's electricity network. This corresponds to about a quarter of Finland's current solar power capacity (27%).

According to Caruna's Innovation Manager Matti Uusipaasto, solar panel parks are reflected in order volumes.

"Today, Finns are interested in energy issues in a whole new way, and the amount of solar energy is constantly growing. More panels are added all the time, but growth is slower than last year. The amount of solar power is increasing especially due to large solar farms – instead, the panel craze in detached houses has subsided," Uusipaasto says.

Most solar power in Caruna's area is produced in Espoo, which currently has 38.2 megawatts of solar power. The next largest solar energy producers in Caruna's area are Salo (19.8 MW) and Lohja (13.2 MW).

Finland has good conditions for solar power 

More industrial-scale solar power plants are being built in Finland than ever before. Caruna has already received dozens of inquiries about large solar power plants this year.

According to Caruna's expert, Finland has quite good climate conditions for the use of renewable energy.

"Solar power does not need constant sunshine, but the panels produce energy even in cloudy weather. The optimal production of panels is actually obtained in fairly cool weather, and the Finnish summer is bright. Solar power can produce the same amount of energy in Finland as, for example, in northern Germany," Uusipaasto says.

Strong and reliable electricity networks have been built in Finland. In the future, the challenge will be tightened regulation, which will slow down investments in the clean transition.

The Energy Authority's supervisory model, which entered into force at the beginning of the year, postpones Caruna's investments. In the future, the connection of renewable energy to the grid will be delayed in areas where the capacity of the electricity network is insufficient to meet the rapidly growing electricity consumption needs.

Caruna is the main electricity distributor in 57 municipalities.

Caruna's capacity map shows where there is still room for a new medium-voltage connection in Caruna's distribution network: https://plus.caruna.fi/capacities-map  

The text has been translated into English with the help of artificial intelligence.