Use of fossil fuels grew in electricity and heat production in 2013

The production of electricity in Finland amounted to 68.3 TWh in 2013. The production grew by one per cent from the previous year. The production of district heat went down by seven per cent and that of industrial heat by one per cent. The use of renewable fuels increased in the production of electricity and heat. The use of fossil fuels grew, as 38 per cent more hard coal was used than in the previous year. In contrast, the uses of natural gas and oil diminished. The use of peat decreased by 13 per cent from the previous year. These data derive from the statistics on the production of electricity and heat compiled by Statistics Finland.

Fuel use in electricity and heat production 2012–2013

In 2013, the production of electricity in Finland amounted to 68.3 terawatt hours (TWh) or billion kilowatt hours (kWh). The production went up by one per cent from the year before. In turn, total electricity consumption went down by one per cent and amounted to 84.0 TWh. Of total electricity consumption, 81 per cent was covered by domestic production and 19 per cent by net imports of electricity from the Nordic countries and Russia. Net imports of electricity declined by ten per cent from the year before. Imports of electricity from the Nordic markets decreased as the water situation in the Nordic countries was worse than one year earlier.

Altogether 36 per cent of the electricity produced in Finland was produced with renewable energy sources. Over one-half of this was produced with hydro power and almost all of the remainder with wood. Thirty-three per cent of the production of electricity was covered with nuclear power, 26 per cent with fossil fuels and four per cent with peat. The amount of electricity produced with renewable energy sources decreased by 11 per cent, as the volume of electricity produced with hydro power declined by 24 per cent from the peak level of the year before. The amount of electricity produced with wood grew by seven per cent. The amount of electricity produced with peat decreased by 14 per cent from the year before. The amount of electricity produced with fossil fuels increased by 24 per cent from the previous year, as the amount produced with hard coal went up by 50 per cent. The increased production of condensing electricity raised the use of hard coal.

Electricity and heat production by production mode in 2013

	Electricity, TWh	District heat, TWh	Industrial heat, TWh	Fuels used, PJ ¹⁾
Separate production of electricity
- Hydro power	12.7	-	-	-
- Wind power	0.8	-	-	-
- Nuclear power	22.7	-	-	-
- Condensing power ²⁾	8.9	-	-	87.8
- Total	45.0	-	-	87.8
Combined heat and power production	23.3	26.1	43.7	411.3
Separate heat production	-	8.4	8.5	71.6
Total production	68.3	34.5	52.2	570.7
Net imports of electricity	15.7	-	-	-
Total	84.0	34.5	52.2	570.7

1) In calculating total primary energy used, hydro power, wind power and net imports of electricity are made commensurate with fuels according to directly obtained electricity (3.6 PJ/TWh). Total nuclear energy used is calculated at the efficiency ratio of 33 per cent from produced nuclear power (10.91 PJ/TWh).
2) Condensing power includes condensing power plants, shares of condensing electricity of combined heat and power production plants, and peak gas turbines and similar separate electricity production plants.

The production of district heat totalled 34.5 TWh in 2013. The production decreased by seven per cent from the previous year. The need for the heating energy of buildings decreased due to the warmer weather than in the year before. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, heating degree days fell in all reference localities by at least five per cent from the previous year.

Around one-half of district heat was produced with fossil fuels, whose use fell, however, by 11 per cent from one year ago. The use of renewable fuels in the production of district heat grew by six per cent from the year before. District heat was produced most with wood fuels, hard coal and natural gas.

The production of industrial heat was 52.2 TWh in 2013. The production went down by one per cent from the year before. The economic development of manufacturing weakened, so the use of industrial heat remained at a low level as in previous years.

Over 70 per cent of industrial heat was produced with renewable fuels. The individual fuel that was used most was black liquor from the forest industry and other wood fuels. The biggest users of industrial heat are the forest industry, which uses own fuels in production. In the chemical and metal industries, part of the use of heat is often regarded as direct fuel use, so that is not visible in the statistics on heat production.

The statistics on the production of electricity and heat cover almost the entire production of electricity connected to the grid. Solar electricity has not yet been added to the statistics. The statistics do not cover small district heating plants or the heat production of small industrial enterprises.

Links:

Statistics Finland's inquiry on heat production

Finnish Energy Industries, Electricity statistics

Source: Statistics on production of electricity and heat, Statistics Finland and Electricity statistics, Finnish Energy Industries

Inquiries: Minna Niininen 029 551 3549, Sami Hautakangas 029 551 3791, energia@stat.fi

Director in charge: Leena Storgårds

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Appendix tables

Appendix table 1. Electricity and heat production by production mode and fuel in 2013 (16.10.2014)

Figures

Appendix figure 1. Electricity generation by energy source 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 2. Electricity generation by energy source 2000 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 3. Electricity generation by production mode 2000 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 4. Electricity generation with renewables 2000 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 5. Electricity generation with renewables 2000 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 6. Heat production 2000 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 7. District heat production by fuels 2000 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 8. Industrial heat production by fuels 2000 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 9. Fuel use by production mode in electricity and heat production 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 10. Fuel use in electricity and heat production 2012 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 11. Fuel use in separate electricity production 2012 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 12. Fuel use in combined heat and power production 2012 - 2013 (16.10.2014)
Appendix figure 13. Fuel use in separate heat production 2012 - 2013 (16.10.2014)

Updated 16.10.2014

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Production of electricity and heat [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-5099. 2013. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 19.4.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/salatuo/2013/salatuo_2013_2014-10-16_tie_001_en.html