Offshore Wind in the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone – New Government Decree to Establish a Framework for the Competitive Tendering Process

Authors: Katja Heikkinen, Alisa Ainonen, and Jenny Karlsson  Read time: 8 min

On 23 June 2025, the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment issued a draft Government Decree on Offshore Wind Power in the Exclusive Economic Zone (“EEZ”) (“Decree”) for public consultation. The draft Decree is based on the Act on Offshore Wind Power in the Exclusive Economic Zone (937/2024, in Finnish: laki merituulivoimasta talousvyöhykkeellä, “Offshore Wind Power Act”), which entered into force on 1 January 2025. As further described in our previous blog post, the Offshore Wind Power Act establishes a three-step process for granting exclusivity to wind power production in the EEZ. The purpose of the Decree is to provide a more detailed framework for the tendering process, including participation requirements, selection criteria, and participation security. In addition, the Decree would regulate the content of exploitation permit applications and performance security requirements.

The Offshore Wind Power Act together with the Decree and the upcoming legislation on the property and income taxation of offshore wind power (currently under public consultation) create a comprehensive legal and tax framework for offshore wind power that will significantly impact the attractiveness of participating in the tendering process and interest in investing in Finnish offshore wind projects.

In this blog post, Katja Heikkinen, Alisa Ainonen, and Jenny Karlsson summarise the key proposals of the draft Decree and outline the timeline and next steps in the process as well as certain potential implications of the draft Decree.

Tendering Process and Criteria for Participation

The tendering would be conducted as a single-round, sealed bid format. This format was chosen to reduce the duration of the tendering process and minimise the administrative burden, while encouraging bidders to submit realistic and feasible plans from the outset. Each participant may submit only one bid per tender.

The Decree draft proposes certain prequalification criteria as all participants must meet the following financial and experience-based requirements to be able to participate:

• Financial capacity: participants must have either a balance sheet totalling at least EUR 600 million and an equity ratio of at least 15% or at least EUR 1 billion in assets under management.
• Experience: participants must have project management experience of at least 100 MW of WTG capacity in both wind power project development and construction. The project management experience for the project development and construction phases may be from the same project or different projects, provided that no more than eight years have passed since obtaining either type of experience.

Whilst the experience-based requirements should be relatively straightforward for relevant industry participants to fulfil, the financial capacity thresholds may considerably narrow the pool of eligible participants. In practice, this means that certain potential participants may need to form consortia to meet the financial requirements collectively.

The Offshore Wind Power Act provides that the participant may be an entity, enterprise, or a consortium. An independent participant must meet the requirements individually, and when participants form a consortium, the requirements for participation are examined jointly. Both independent participants and consortia may use the resources of other entities to fulfil the conditions for participation in accordance with the Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts (1397/2016, in Finnish: laki julkisista hankinnoista ja käyttöoikeussopimuksista), which also applies to the tendering.

Selection Criteria – Price Meets Quality

In addition to the prequalification criteria, the Finnish Energy Authority would evaluate qualifying bids using a 100-point system, equally weighted between price (maximum 50 points) and quality (maximum 50 points). The higher the score, the higher the ranking, enabling the determination of a winner and a runner-up. The Decree would also set out provisions for the process in the event of a tie, in which case the quality criteria would take precedence.

The price component would be the exploitation fee offered (EUR/installed MW per year). The payment obligation of the exploitation fee would commence for each WTG when it is installed in such a way that it is technically operational and connected either to the electricity grid or to the electricity consumption site and would continue until all WTGs have been dismantled. As set out in the Offshore Wind Power Act, the exploitation permit may stipulate additional conditions for the payment of the exploitation fee.

The quality-based criteria emphasise:

1. expertise, experience, and overall capability of developing the project (based on project development, construction phase, and operational experience in both onshore and offshore wind projects; however, offshore wind experience would receive a higher point allocation);
2. the environmental impact of the project (use of electricity or renewable fuels in transportation from the operation to the dismantling phase of the wind farm and monitoring of birds with a bird radar during the development phase); and
3. enhancing the flexibility of the energy system (construction of BESS or electricity consumption site and commitment to participate in the frequency containment reserve or the automatic frequency restoration reserve).

Clarifications of Participation and Performance Security Amounts

The Offshore Wind Power Act stipulates that a participation security (in Finnish: osallistumisvakuus) must be provided to participate in the tendering process. In accordance with the draft Decree, the amount of the participation security would be EUR 1 million and would need to be provided to the Energy Authority by the deadline for the submission of the tenders. The participation security must be valid for 12 months from the date of the submission of the bid or until the performance security has been placed by the winner, as set out in the Offshore Wind Power Act.

Furthermore, the Offshore Wind Power Act requires that the exploitation permit holder must provide a performance security (in Finnish: edistämisvakuus) to the Energy Authority within three months from the permit decision to ensure the active and compliant development of the offshore wind project. The draft Decree provides that the initial amount of the security would be EUR 1 million and the amount of such security would need to be increased annually to up to EUR 5 million per year (EUR 1 million for years 1–2, EUR 3 million for years 3–5, and EUR 5 million for each of the following instalments). However, the obligation to accumulate the security would cease when WTGs with a capacity of at least 400 MW have been installed in such a way that they are technically ready to generate electricity and are connected to either the electricity grid or the electricity consumption site.

Under the Offshore Wind Power Act, the performance security is subject to forfeiture in several circumstances: if an exploitation permit is withdrawn or surrendered, or if the permit holder violates the qualitative conditions or time limits specified in the permit. Given that the performance security can accumulate to substantial amounts over the project development period, the risk of losing this security represents a significant financial exposure for permit holders. This risk is particularly concerning given that some events leading to the loss of security may result from unforeseen circumstances or factors beyond the developer’s control. Consequently, this financial risk may impact the attractiveness of participating in the tendering process and could influence investor appetite for Finnish offshore wind projects, particularly among those with lower risk tolerance.

Timeline and Next Steps

The draft Decree is open for statements until 18 August 2025. The assessment plan for the strategic environmental assessment of authorities’ plans and programmes concerning potential offshore wind farms in the EEZ (in Finnish: Viranomaisten suunnitelmien ja ohjelmien ympäristövaikutusten arviointi (SOVA) potentiaalisista talousvyöhykkeen merituulivoima-alueista, “SEA”) is open for statements until 4 July 2025. The SEA concerns the draft decision under preparation, which will define the area(s) in the EEZ for offshore wind power use and currently includes a total of four areas – two in the Bothnian Sea and two in the Bothnian Bay.

The SEA for the decision on the area(s) to be tendered is expected to be completed in October 2025 and the Decree would enter into force in the same month. The final decision by the Government on the area(s) to be tendered is also expected by the end of 2025.

The first round of competitive tendering could commence in January 2026, with the winner of the first tendering to be selected in early summer 2026.

Hannes Snellman advises clients on a regular basis with respect to, inter alia, the permitting, construction, operation, and financing of energy projects, as well as public procurement questions that relate to energy projects, including onshore and offshore wind. Our experts are closely following the development of the offshore energy sector and the related legislative regimes. Please contact us should you wish to discuss any related questions.