The 20 MW Loukkaanaro solar farm received €2.35 million ($2.7 million) from the EU’s first cross-border renewable energy tender. It is billed as the largest operational solar project in Northern Finland.
A 20 MW solar project in Finland, supported by the EU’s cross-border renewable energy programme, is now operational.
According to the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and the Environment (CINEA), the Loukkaanaro solar park is the first commissioning of a project supported by the EU Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism (RENEWFM). This mechanism allows sustainable energy projects to be developed through cooperation between contributing and receiving EU Member States.
The Loukkaanaro solar park was chosen as part of the first RENEWFM tender, alongside six other solar projects in Finland, with financing from Luxembourg.
The site was the first to sign a grant agreement with CINEA and received €2.35 million ($2.7 million) in investment support, compared to the total project cost of approximately €10 million. Construction began in May 2024 and the park was completed by the end of 2025.
The project is managed by Oulun Seudun Sähkö, a regional energy cooperative serving the area around the Finnish city of Oulu. Are Chief Financial Officer, Juhani Rönkkö, said pv magazine The EU’s cross-border financing mechanism was crucial for the project.
“A local bank financed a large part of the project and we used our savings and other sources of income for the rest of the financial needs,” says Rönkkö.
Located in the municipality Utajärvi, in Finland’s northern Ostrobothnia region, the project is billed as the largest in Northern Finland. It features approximately 30,000 solar panels and is expected to produce approximately 4% of the region’s annual electricity consumption. Rönkkö added that the energy generated will mainly be used for households, with the commercial and industrial sectors contributing a small share of the usage.
“The construction phase on site lasted about 1.5 years,” Rönkkö also said. “When the solar park was integrated into the transmission grid, we were faced with a number of technical challenges, but these were resolved without major delays.”
A statement published by CINEA explains that the project is a important step in demonstrating the viability of large-scale solar generation in northern climatic conditions. “The effects of snow and cold temperatures will be closely monitored, which will provide valuable operational data for the development of future renewable energy projects in similar environments,” the agency said.
CINEA added that the remaining 15 projects awarded under the first and second rounds of the cross-border financing mechanism are expected to be commissioned between this year and 2028.
A third financing round was launched in March, with a share of €54.9 million available for solar-plus-storage projects in Bulgaria and ground-mounted solar projects in Finland, with funding again provided by Luxembourg. The deadline for registration is September 1.
Finland added 227 MW of utility-scale solar power last year, a calendar year record for the country. Analysis from Renewables Finland predicts that utility-scale installations in Finland could surpass rooftops in terms of cumulative capacity by 2028.
This content is copyrighted and may not be reused. If you would like to collaborate with us and reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Popular content
