27.05.2025
Regional Assembly approves the regional plan for the energy and climate phase in Northern Ostrobothnia
At its meeting on 27 May 2025, the Regional Assembly approved the regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia, which was launched in autumn 2021.
The regional plan sets out the principles of land use and urban structure and identifies areas necessary for the development of the region. Territorial reserves shall be allocated only in so far as and to the extent necessary to meet national or regional objectives concerning the use of areas or to coordinate the use of areas in more than one municipality. The regional plan contains provisions that, taking into account the purpose of the plan and the requirements set for its content, are needed when planning or constructing the regional plan area.
According to the Regional Use Act, a regional plan can be drawn up in stages. This means that the regional land use planning process does not cover all the areas of land use in the area, but focuses on some of the themes defined at the beginning of the planning process. In phase zoning, only new or changing zoning entries are presented on the zoning map, and outgoing zoning entries are presented over-ticked. The other entries in the final regional plans will remain unchanged.
The regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia focused on the following themes: regional structure and accessibility, energy production, storage and transmission, transport system and logistics areas, green structure and ecosystem services, the impact of the energy transition on land use planning and the development of climate impact assessment at the regional plan level. The largest single entity in the phase regional land use plan is wind power and the related energy transmission.
In the start-up phase of the regional plan, the hydrogen economy was still at the level of thought in Finland, and there is still no national legislation. There were hardly any solar power projects in the region, but wind power was already undergoing the third regional planning round, and onshore wind power was already in operation at around 40 per cent of all wind power production in Finland. During the regional planning process, municipalities, project developers and business stakeholders in particular actively communicated their hopes for a regional plan that would enable wind power projects. Efforts have been made to meet the wishes in cooperation in cooperation within the framework of the framework conditions of the legislation governing land use planning.
Extensive regional studies and impact assessments were prepared to prepare the phase-regional land use plan solution. The EMMI project was related to the energy transition and climate impact assessment, the TUULI project focused on the prerequisites for sustainable wind power construction, and the Natura 2000 risk assessment opened up nature values and ecological network in relation to wind power in order to preserve the region's biodiversity also for future generations. All renewable energy production involves energy transmission, and as a new entity, a gas pipeline connection need label indicating the long-term will of the region's development was introduced on the plan map. Gasgrid Finland has launched more detailed planning through an environmental impact assessment procedure. In terms of the impacts of land use, it is significant that the transmission capacity of one hydrogen pipeline in cooperation in cooperation with a diameter of approximately one meter corresponds to approximately fifteen 400 kV transmission lines at the grid level.
During the planning process, other national and regional survey data related to the themes of the plan were also examined and it was appropriate to include the regional land use plan. The phase regional plan updated the classification and demarcation changes of groundwater areas and updated the regionally and nationally valuable traditional biotopes, nationally valuable landscape areas and nationally significant archaeological sites.
In the phase regional land use plan, the new plan markings are presented in the plan map 1 A, are repealed in the plan map 1 B. The explanations for the markings in the plan maps and the general provisions binding more detailed planning are presented in the Markings and regulations summary. The zoning report provides background for the analysis and planning work carried out during the zoning process. Appendix map 1 of the report shows the regionally significant wind power areas of all regional plans, i.e. wind power areas that enable 10 or more wind power plants, built or ongoing wind power projects known in April 2025, biodiversity and energy transmission. Annex 2 to the report contains site descriptions of each regionally significant area of wind turbines presented on the plan map, as well as the boundary conditions to be taken into account in more detailed planning. Appendix map 6 of the zoning report shows the combination of the regional plans of Northern Ostrobothnia, i.e. the legally valid plans, and this phase regional plan on the same, unofficial map.
The long-term development of Northern Ostrobothnia is largely about the location of the production, storage, transmission and consumption of renewable energy and related investments, as well as their alignment in cooperation in cooperation with other land use, livelihoods and environmental values. Changes in land use always have an impact on the initial situation. For this reason, the phase-regional plan assessed the environmental impacts of the possible implementation of the labels presented in the plan map. The further processing of energy is the target state of Northern Ostrobothnia, which is promoted through various projects. The municipalities of Northern Ostrobothnia are also running several of their own projects related to the clean energy transition, which focus on impact assessment at a more detailed level. Often it is an agency that combines several municipalities, where cooperation between municipalities, stakeholders and authorities is a prerequisite for success.
The regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia has produced a good knowledge base for the use of municipal land use planning through an extensive survey and combined impact assessment. in cooperation in cooperation with good cooperation, Northern Ostrobothnia is able to promote the quality of life in Northern Ostrobothnia and further develop the vitality of the region. All the survey information and the progress of the planning process have been compiled on the public website of the regional plan:
https://www.pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi/ilmastomaakuntakaava/.
Additional information: Markus Erkkilä, Director of Planning, tel. +358 40 685 4045, markus.erkkila@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi
