Energy consumption drops by 1.5% in Q1

Total energy consumption in January to March amounted to 344 petajoule (PJ) in Finland, which was 1.5 per cent less than in the year before, according to Statistics Finland.

Consumption of fossil fuels and peat in particular decreased in the early part of the year. The consumption of wood fuels, wind power and nuclear power increased significantly.

The consumption of renewable energy increased by nine per cent in the first quarter of 2023, which was mainly due to the 12 per cent growth in the consumption of wood fuels.

The combined consumption of fossil fuels and peat decreased by 11 per cent. The consumption of natural gas and peat fell most, by 33 and 15 per cent.

Total electricity consumption was 22.3 terawatt hours (TWh) or five per cent lower than one year earlier. The production of wind power grew by 35 per cent and that of nuclear power by 12 per cent.

Nuclear power production increased by 12% from the previous year. The increase in nuclear power was driven by the completion of a new power plant unit.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy use of fuels decreased by 12 per cent from the previous year.