Permission for solar power plants is easy in some municipalities, hard in others – this is about to change

The new Land Use Act may include more specific provisions for the construction of solar power.

More solar power plants are being built in Finland all the time.

However, there are significant differences in the construction permitting processes. Some municipalities want to get to the bottom of things and start with traditional zoning. Others go for a lighter process without planning in advance.

The Ministry of the Environment is planning to include more specific provisions for solar power in the new Regional Planning Act. The government will submit a bill to Parliament this spring.

Lighter licensing in Kouvola

The city of Kouvola has often progressed with a lighter design solution.

The most recent plans for the solar power plant planned for Kouvola’s hinterland were failed and the projects stopped. The reason was the location too close to the settlement.

– It may be that this method was not right in this case. In the future, we may be more sensitive to our planning in advance, says Mikkola.

The municipalities have been concerned about Kouvola’s solar power solutions and whether they provide too few opportunities for residents and associations to express different opinions on the use of the terrain. However, Mikkola sees, for example, those in the hinterland were heard because the plans fell.

Virolahti carefully planned

The municipality of Virolahti chose the traditional zoning, even if the lighter process would have suited the situation. The area is arable land and its size less than 200 hectares. Such an area does not automatically need to evaluate the environmental impact, but still the municipality decided to do so.

\”All parties are in an equal footing,\” he explains.

The municipality also organized public events where the plans were discussed.

Solar power as a model for wind power rules

The Ministry of the Environment is planning to focus on the regional use law to regulate solar power.

\”If there are solar power sections in the area of \u200b\u200buse of the regions, then the permit would be directly obtained when certain conditions are met,\” he says.

Even then, zoning and licensing are likely to remain parallel to the planning of the area.

There are already separate regulations for wind power, which include pre -defined safety distances from the settlement. In the solar power project of Kouvola, uncertainty was the distance to the settlement.

– Hopefully in the future there will be a direct instruction in the Regional Use Act, says Risto Mikkola, Kouvola Building Control Manager.

Currently, solar power is practically treated by the same rules as other construction. It is regulated by the Construction Act and the current Law on Regional Use. At the beginning of this year, the name of the Land Use and Building Act became a regional use law.

Nature conservationist recommends the formula

\”Zoning is the best tool for this,\” he says.

Companies build and design solar power plants for very different areas. Virolahti and Kouvola’s example cases are in the field, but power plants are also designed for peat and forests. Not all locations are good for nature.

– From our point of view, the field is the best place, as there are only a couple of plant species. The transformation into a solar power plant can even diversify the species, says Rinnekangas.