By Anni Mikkonen, Finnish Wind Power Association

2011 has already been a big year for wind power in Finland since the Finnish government finally adopted a feed-in-tariff – a policy designed to increase the level of renewable energy. This tariff has already inspired Finnish facilities and project developers to plan wind energy projects. We are expecting several projects to be built in 2012. The Finnish wind energy sector is increasingly active, and so is the whole country for Global Wind Day 2011: This year there are many events around the country.

The question of electricity cost is tricky. Most of us know oil prices go up and down – and are currently at record highs – which in turn affects the power price.  And we know that not only to the costs of importing such fuels change constantly, they also – unlike renewables – produce carbon, which has to be paid for.

But while more and more people are saying onshore wind energy is at “competitive” price levels, others still insist that renewables are expensive and impractical.

The US anti-wind lobby is no doubt furious about a fascinating story published by The New York Times (NYT) revealing that residents in rural Oregon are making money from wind power.

The story noted that residents of Sherman County, a remote, largely unpopulated and wild area south of the Columbia River Gorge, receive €410 a year as their share of the growing financial benefits of the wind power sector.

With Global Wind Day just around the corner, it is high time to tell you all about events in Brussels that will be taking place as part of our annual celebration of wind energy.

On 15 June we’ll be right at the heart of EU decision-making – at Place du Luxembourg in front of the European Parliament. Come and join us to watch a lively, colourful wind-inspired parade, get your free ‘seeded leaflet’ (yes, a piece of paper you can plant, wait a while and watch your seedlings grow into flowers) and chat to EWEA about the benefits of wind energy. We’ll be at Place du Luxembourg as you arrive to work, during your lunch break, and as you finish work.

Bereft of any conventional energy sources, Portugal turned to its winds and rivers. Today, it gets more of its electricity from wind energy (14.8%) than anywhere except Denmark.

At the end of 2010, there were 3,898 MW of wind energy capacity installed in Portugal – all onshore, and mostly in the mountainous, sparsely populated north-east.

Fuel imports once made up around half of Portugal’s trade deficit. From around 2000, the country decided to focus more on indigenous, renewable sources of energy to reduce that deficit.