20.11.2024
The approval of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia will be postponed until spring 2025
The approval of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia will be postponed to spring 2025. According to the original goal, the phase-regional land use plan was to be submitted to the approval process of the Regional Assembly in December. However, a lot of feedback was given to the public proposal, a total of 130 pieces, which led to the need to specify the planning material. The the Board of the Regional Regional Assembly of Northern Ostrobothnia considered the feedback received on the proposal the meeting of Tuesday 19 November.
The regional plan guides the location of regionally significant wind power areas, i.e. entities of 10 or more power plants. The goal of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase is to increase areas suitable for regionally significant wind power construction in Northern Ostrobothnia. At the same time, the goal of the plan is to steer wind power construction as a whole, to coordinate different activities and to manage impacts at the level of the entire region.
Northern Ostrobothnia is the leading wind power region in Finland, in cooperation with about 40 per cent of Finland's wind power plants. Nearly half of Finland's wind power projects are also planned in the region.
“It is therefore more challenging than usual to use the regional land use plan to look at the synergies between different projects and to ensure the sustainable coordination of different needs, both on land and at sea. The regional will is clear. Northern Ostrobothnia wants to be at the forefront of the energy transition also in the future", says Planning Director Markus Erkkilä Regional Assembly of Oulu Region.
The aim is to demonstrate and coordinate solutions for energy production, storage, further processing and transmission in cooperation with other needs through the regional plan.
The union has a strong will to promote the progress of the plan
During the regional plan process, municipalities, project developers and business stakeholders in particular have actively communicated their hopes for an enabling regional plan. According to Markus Erkkilä, efforts have also been made to respond fully to the wishes in cooperation within the limits of the legislation. However, the feedback received at the proposal stage of the plan must be taken into account in the preparation.
“In particular, the opinions of the environmental authorities highlight the need for us, as the authors of the plan, to look even more closely, in particular, at the coordination of the conservation criteria for the Natura 2000 network and the wind farms designated in its vicinity. This work requires negotiations in cooperation with different authorities and stakeholders. That is why, unfortunately, the plan cannot be submitted to the Regional Assembly for approval until December", says Markus Erkkilä.
However, the regional The Regional Regional Assembly's will to proceed swiftly in cooperation with the regional land use plan is strong.
“The negotiations in the coming weeks and the legal assessments based on them will determine the appropriate way forward in cooperation with the regional land use plan. We are aware that our county has high expectations for the regional plan and that project development has been carried out extensively in parallel in cooperation with the process of drawing up the regional plan. The regional land use plan will therefore be submitted to the Regional Assembly for approval by May 2025 at the latest.’
Additional information:
Markus Erkkilä, Director of Planning, tel. +358 40 685 4045
Jussi Ylitalo, President of the the Board of the Regional Regional Assembly, tel. +358 45 160 6466
