Hoskonen demands action to avoid a new electricity crisis – 2024-05-12 20:15:09

Hannu Hoskonen is the fifth-term Member of Parliament from Ilomantsi. KIMMO HAAPALA

Member of Parliament for the fifth term of the center Hannu Hoskonen reminds that last winter was a time of too expensive energy for many Finns. He says that the development was not an accident, but “the result of conscious decisions”.

– Inexpensive domestic peat was first made into a non-renewable fuel by purposeful manipulation, and through emissions trading, peat became such an expensive fuel that it was profitable to burn even the best pine logs in thermal power plants.

– All Finns pay this drastic price increase every moment, from housing to using services. You can’t even run away while you sleep, when the bill grows even then. This cost machine takes away purchasing power, weakens our competitiveness in the market, puts people in financial difficulties and increases the deficit of the public finances at an accelerating rate.

– We complain about this self-inflicted problem in parliament, especially when the new budget is discussed. There will be no solution to the problem unless the policy changes, says Hoskonen.

Consequence of climate action

Hoskonen calculates that decommissioning coal-fired power plants reduced electricity output by 3,000 MW and removing peat from CHP production by 1,000 MW.

– This is the reason why electricity cost even more than a euro per kilowatt last winter at its most expensive. Many low-income or low-pension citizens were on the brink of bankruptcy because of this flawed climate policy.

– Wind power is not a solution without genuine control power, the electricity shortage continues, especially in winter frosts. In order for wind power to be a viable solution, clean control power must be boldly built, says Hoskonen.

Hoskonen highlights Kollaja and Vuotos.

– Additional use of already harnessed rivers would offer a viable alternative as a control force. Kollaja and Vuotos have been officially forgotten, but in the promised climate policy era, one must have the courage to use really clean hydropower, where it is possible. In this way, we would get a really functional, domestic solution for Finland’s electricity production far into the future. Of course, there is talk of a hydrogen economy, but that would require more cheap electricity, which we don’t have now. Good wishes and ambition will not reduce electricity prices.

Exception to emissions trading?

Hoskonen fears that if the policy does not change, “nearly 10 million tons of valuable log and fiber wood will burn as gas into the sky next winter”.

– First, we lose the processing value of the trees, then the important export income, the accumulated taxes and the added value of the entire production chain, which extends to many areas of our industry. The loss of our national economy from this waste of natural resources amounts to almost 5 billion euros per year. A country in debt cannot afford this kind of waste, says Hoskonen.

Hoskonen says that if we want to avoid a continuous increase in the cost of energy, the government must negotiate an exception or credit to the emissions trading system, so that peat is returned to domestic energy raw material as soon as possible.

– Security of supply is already compromised in solid fuel power plants. Agriculture needs its own peat, as does domestic greenhouse cultivation and the export trade of growing media, which is already a significant part of the bioeconomy. Europe is heading for harder times because of the Ukraine crisis. We cannot remain idle here in the northern corner of Europe. We will be the first to suffer if the situation gets even more difficult.