Finland: coordination of maritime transport and wind farms

Finland has published a guideline on the coordination between offshore wind power, maritime transport, and maritime transport infrastructure.

This guideline, published on 7 November 2023, has been drawn up in cooperation between the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom as well as the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency.

The guideline discusses issues to be taken into account in the coordination of maritime transport and wind farms, in which the roles of Traficom and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency involve issuing statements or instructions and advice related to the matter as authorities, as well as cooperation with other authorities and interest groups.

The aim of the guideline is to describe the procedures of Traficom and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency during the land use planning, assessment and permit processes of planned offshore wind farm projects and provide background for the requirements of the agencies on taking maritime transport and its infrastructure into account in wind power projects.

Due to the close cooperation between Traficom and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency in offshore wind power projects, and because the instructions and statements by the agencies are closely interlinked, a decision has been made to compile the instructions and views of the agencies into joint instructions so that key issues concerning the coordination of maritime transport and wind farms are available for parties such as land use planners and wind power developers in a single set of instructions.

The guideline also takes account of issues related to matters such as maritime safety, maritime search and rescue and measures to combat environmental damage that are essential from the perspective of the Finnish Border Guard, as well as observations of the rescue services regarding emergencies and dangerous situations.

The Finnish Border Guard issues independent statements in the land use planning, assessment and permit processes of wind farm projects in accordance with its mandate.