The total energy consumption in January to March amounted to 344 petajoule (PJ), which was 11 per cent less than in the corresponding period last year, according to Statistics Finland.
Electricity consumption amounted to 23 terawatt hours (TWh), or nine per cent lower than one year earlier. Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy use of fuels declined by 15 per cent year-on-year.
The warm start of the year was the most significant reason for the fall in total consumption of energy. The consumption of all fuels fell in the first quarter of the year.
The consumption of coal and natural gas decreased by 23 and 24 per cent from the year before. The consumption of oil fell by six per cent, which was particularly visible in the sales of liquid fuels.
Less liquid fuels were consumed due to restrictions to traffic that entered into force in March due to the coronavirus epidemic. The stoppage of the forest industry at the turn of January and February contributed to the 19 per cent fall in the consumption of wood fuels. The consumption of peat was 23 per cent lower than one year ago.
In addition to the warm weather, the fall in electricity consumption was affected by lower consumption of electricity in manufacturing.
The stoppage of the forest industry and the paper machines closed at the end of last year weakened the demand for electricity in manufacturing. The exceptionally warm early part of the year was also rainy and at the same time very windy. Thus, renewable electricity production had favourable conditions in the first quarter.
The production of hydro power and wind power increased by 54 and 44 per cent from the year before.
In January to March, diverse energy products were imported into Finland to the value of EUR 2.1 billion, which was 22 per cent less than one year earlier. Most energy products were imported from Russia, whose share of the value of imports was 60 per cent.
Exports of energy products from Finland amounted to EUR one billion. The value of exports decreased by 26 per cent from the corresponding quarter of the year before. Most energy products were exported to OECD countries, which accounted for 78 per cent of the value of exports.
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
