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Press release of the Ministry of the Environment, Finnish Environment Institute, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Geological Survey of Finland: Finland has received significant research funding of EUR 14 million from the EU to speed up the transition to a clean energy system. The REPower-CEST project will produce a comprehensive analysis of the means of phasing out fossil fuels and prepare a roadmap for implementing the transition in Finland.
The REPower-CEST project is part of the REPowerEU chapter of Finland's Recovery and Resilience Plan. The European Commission presented the REPowerEU plan in May 2022. The aim is to reduce the EU's dependence on Russian fossil fuels and to speed up the green transition. The REPowerEU plan is based on the implementation of the proposals of the EU's Fit for 55 package. The EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent from the 1990 level by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
“This new project will bring valuable scientific knowledge and data for climate and energy policy planning. The clean energy transition is an enormous opportunity for Finland. This work supports the Government's goal of being among the leaders in clean energy,” says Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen.
Roadmap for implementing the transition
The project, launched at the beginning of 2024, will produce a roadmap based on a broad knowledge base for implementing the clean energy transition in Finland by 2035. Besides economic and environmental sustainability, the transition will take into account the perspectives of fairness and access to raw materials that are critical for the transition.
The aim of the project is to create a comprehensive view of the solutions, impacts, implementation challenges and opportunities related to the clean energy transition.
“The big question is how industrial investments that both produce and need clean electricity can be realised in a way that does not cause significant harm to the environment, nature or people. Besides climate targets, we will promote objectives related to the protection of biodiversity and the fight against biodiversity loss,” says Sampo Soimakallio, Development Manager at the Finnish Environment Institute.
The project will produce information, tools and service concepts needed to solve the challenges related to the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the clean energy transition. The materials, models and tools produced in the project will support decision-making in various ways.
The research and development project will run for two and a half years. It is coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute and the project partners are the Geological Survey of Finland and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The Ministry of the Environment will be the ministry responsible for the project in contacts with the European Commission.
More information about the project (in Finnish): Puhtaan energiajärjestelmän siirtymä (REPower-CEST) (Syke.fi)