Renewable Energy Sources (RES) Directive

The EU has set a target that by 2020 at least 20 % Europe’s energy should be generated from renewable sources such as solar power, hydropower, wind power and heat pumps as well as wood, energy crops and other biofuels. The RES Directive sets specific renewable energy targets for all member states, who must find ways to reach their respective goals.

Finland’s target as proposed by the Commission is to increase the share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption to 38 % by 2020, compared to the 2005 level of 28.5 %. The most significant sources of renewable energy currently exploited in Finland are bioenergy (especially wood and wood-based by-products) and hydropower. Ground source heat, wind power and solar power are also exploited on a smaller scale.

Today as much as 70 % of the renewable energy used in Finland is derived from the wood-based by-products of industrial pulp and paper making processes. To reach our national target, Finland will have to increasingly exploit other sources of bioenergy (wood chips, wood pellets, energy crops and organic wastes), enhance the use of existing hydropower facilities, and urgently increase the use of wind power and ground source heat, while also realising energy savings that reduce the need to use fossil fuels.

The RES Directive also includes a separate blanket target that biofuels should make up 10 % of all vehicle fuels by 2020 in all member states, including Finland.