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Amid a surge in wind energy generation, Finland has become the latest country to shut its last operational coal-fired power plant.
The background: In recent years, Austria, Sweden, Portugal and the UK have fully phased out coal generators. That’s helped slow the fossil fuel’s advance — even as China, India, and a handful of other countries continued to open new plants.
The world’s coal-fired power fleet expanded by 19GW in 2024, the lowest rate in two decades, according to data collated by research group Global Energy Monitor. Around 44GW of new capacity was commissioned through the year, while 25GW was retired.
The latest: On 1 April 2025, Finnish energy company Helen switched off the coal-fired Salmisaari facility, which produced both electricity and heat. It says the move will make Finland more self-sufficient in energy (it imported coal) while also reducing nation-wide emissions 2% and cutting electricity costs.
The country’s switch from coal, which made up 18% of its power mix in 2010, has not pushed up electricity prices, Helen says, citing national statistics showing Finland has the third-cheapest electricity in Europe, after Sweden and Norway. The three countries produce some of the lowest-carbon power in the world.
“The clean transition, cost efficiency and Finland’s security of supply can go hand in hand,” Helen’s CEO, Olli Sirkka, said in a statement. The company says its own emissions will be 95% below 1990 levels by 2030.
(It’s possible that a very small amount of coal could be used over the next few years since some plants are being kept in reserve, but Finnish legislation says all of them must be shut permanently from May 2029.)
Wind’s surge: Finland was able to rapidly replace coal-fired power thanks to a wind energy boom and the commissioning of the long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor.
In 2024, nuclear made up 39% of the nation’s electrical output and wind 24% (up from just 2% a decade before). Renewables and nuclear accounted for 95% of all electricity generation in the country.
Solar, which comprised just 2% of the mix, is also starting to gain traction. Finland’s installed solar generating capacity reached 1.2GW at the end of 2024, up from just 0.3GW in 2020, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. The country aims to ramp that up to 9GW by 2030.
