Sweco conducts the strategic environmental impact assessment (SEA) for offshore wind power for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in Finland
Published: 27.5.2025
Sweco conducts an assessment of potential offshore wind power areas in the Finnish economic zone on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. In Finland, the environmental impact assessment (SEA) procedure is a statutory process intended to ensure that the authorities’ plans and programs adequately consider environmental impacts before making decisions. The first round of consultation is open until 4.7.2025.
Sweco’s addition of offshore wind power is an important part of Finland’s energy transition and is strongly connected to new industrial investments such as the increase in hydrogen production in Finland.
In the Gulf of Bothnia, several potential areas have been identified in the Finnish economic zone where offshore wind power could be built, and the government will later decide which areas will be competitively tendered for offshore wind power development. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has initiated the EIA process of potential offshore wind power areas in the economic zone on May 23rd, and opinions can be submitted until July 4th, 2025.
Sweco’s sustainability consultants carry out the SEA on behalf of the ministry. Representatives from the Ministry of the Environment are also included in the steering group of the assessment. Two rounds of consultations are conducted in the SEA process. The current phase involves collecting views related to offshore wind power, informing the planning of the environmental assessment, and preparing the environmental report. The actual consultation on the environmental report generated from the assessment will take place in autumn 2025. The SEA process also includes international consultation.
“An important role is to ensure the process follows the law and guidelines and to enable stakeholders’ participation in the assessment. Environmental impacts are described as clearly and understandably as possible for the estimated 30-year lifespan of offshore wind power projects and from a geographically wide area, so that providing opinions is smooth and stakeholders’ views can be utilized. The process includes hearing relevant domestic and international entities and stakeholders related to offshore wind power, such as the Baltic Sea countries,” says Mari Saario, project leader at Sweco.
The goal of the SEA is to mitigate harmful environmental impacts of offshore wind power
The EIA is conducted to evaluate the environmental impacts of authorities’ plans and programs before their implementation. The process ensures that potential harmful impacts are identified and appropriate mitigation measures are proposed. It also defines ways to monitor the impacts on marine life and people throughout the lifecycle of offshore wind power projects.
“The SEA includes identifying impacts, assessing their significance, proposing mitigation measures for harmful impacts, and suggestions for monitoring and managing impacts. The background information obtained from the SEA on environmental impacts of offshore wind power also helps the entities planning offshore wind power in preparing for potential environmental challenges and developing their projects, although it does not replace the SEA processes and water permits later done by individual companies,” says Ulla Värre, Sweco’s sustainability consulting expert.
The SEA considers multiple implementation options to comprehensively describe the environmental impacts. A zero option is also included, where no offshore wind power would be built in the economic zone.
“In the zero option, the corresponding amount of renewable energy would be left unproduced,” reminds Mari Saario.
As a result, an environmental report is produced, describing the assessment target and current state of the environment, environmental impacts and cumulative impacts of different implementation options, and possibilities for mitigating impacts. The opinions received during the consultations are considered in the environmental report’s compilation and included as an appendix.
“With the published environmental report, each company and public entity connected to the offshore wind power ecosystem will have access to the same material and the shared views of stakeholders. Ideally, this provides a basis for building the social license for future projects,” summarizes Ulla Värre on the significance of the assessment.
More information:
Mari Saario, Director, Sweco, tel. 050 421 9999, mari.saario@sweco.fi
Heini Jokinen, media contact, Sweco, tel. 040 718 0063, heini.jokinen@sweco.fi