The wind power company OX2 is based on both sides of the Baltic Sea, but it is much easier to obtain permits in Finland than in Sweden. Finnish municipalities do not have the same opportunity to veto a municipal veto and receive financial compensation.
Peter Tornberg is Business Manager at OX2:
"In the Finnish process, it has been possible to achieve this so that the municipalities want to have expanded wind power. It has to do with the fact that property tax in Finland goes to the municipality. Property tax does not go to the state, as in Sweden.
The share of electricity generated by wind power is growing steadily in Finland. Today, production covers about ten percent of the country's electricity needs, but according to the Finnish Wind Power Association, the proportion will double within just a few years.
The municipality of Närpes is a telling example of the wind power boom. There are currently 44 wind turbines and more than 50 are under construction, in addition to even more wind turbines are in the planning stage.
Närpes is currently building both a school and a health centre. These are financed, among other things, by the property tax from the wind turbines.