On April 1st 2025, Finland made history.
Finland, once one of the largest coal consuming countries in Northern Europe, completely shut down operations at the Salmisaari coal-fired power plant in Helsinki, reducing the country’s share of coal-based power generation to less than 1 percent. Coal power is now essentially unavailable outside of securing electricity supply during “emergencies” e.g. in the event of a spike in electricity demand.
What’s more remarkable is the fact that this shutdown took place four years ahead of the Finnish government’s expected timeline.
A view of downtown Helsinki, Finland, with the Salmisaari power plant in the background (Photo: Martti Salmi)
Finland, Riding a Cool Breeze
The old “it’ll be hard to phase out coal because cold countries have greater heating needs” argument seems to have lost its steam, at least for Finland. In place of coal-fired power plants, the country has been rapidly scaling up wind power, with capacity more than doubling since 2020 and now powering around a quarter of the country’s electricity. Such a transition has contributed significantly to bolstering both Finland’s economy and its national security, as well as strengthening the country’s capacity to respond to climate change.
Despite its large landmass, Finland has limited energy resources and has thus relied on importing coal primarily from Russia and Poland – a supply and demand chain that is extremely vulnerable to external shocks like the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The country’s shift away from coal and towards wind has thus been very effective in increasing its energy security and independence.
Further, according to the Finnish Wind Association, the country has plans to scale up wind projects to the tune of 130 thousand megawatts, which have the potential to attract more than 200 billion euros in investment, thereby strengthening the wind industry’s competitiveness.
Plan, Regulate, Incentivize: A Winning Formula for Early Coal Phaseout
Finland’s successful coal phaseout was possible largely due to the government’s proactive three-pronged policy of plan, regulate, incentivize.
A clear plan: Finland declared itself coal-free in 2016 and joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance in 2017. In 2019, legislation aiming “to completely cease coal-based energy production” was passed.
Firm regulation: The country went on to adjust carbon prices to make it more expensive for companies to continuing emitting carbon dioxide.
Attractive incentives: Companies phasing out coal use were offered tax credit packages and other incentives, as well as 22.8 million euros in funding for innovative energy technologies and investments.
In the end, policy opened the path, and businesses took that path without wavering, committing to a rapid coal phaseout amid the difficult conditions of an extremely cold climate and the resulting high heating demands.
The UK, Coal’s Birthplace, Says Farewell
In fact, this breezy breakup with coal is not unique to Finland. Of the 38 OECD countries, 14 already have coal-free power systems, and 13 are on track to a coal phaseout by 2030.
In September last year, the UK – home to the world’s first coal-fired power station – finally bid coal goodbye, officially switching off the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant in the central city of Nottinghamshire and saying farewell to 142 years of coal-fired power generation. The UK’s Deputy Energy Minister Michael Shanks described the move as “the end of an era.”
Smoke billows from the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant (Photo: Johannes Heel)
The UK today is now “zero coal”, but it relied heavily on coal (roughly 80%) for electricity production in the early 1980s. That figure was down to around 40% by 2012, just over a decade ago.
The UK gets less sunshine than South Korea, which makes it a less-than-ideal location for solar and other renewable projects. The transition, however, has unfolded rapidly because, like Finland, the UK has been promoting the message that “the renewables industry is very competitive”, and that is what got companies moving. The electricity market has been reformed to facilitate a gradual retirement of existing coal capacity, setting up a system which allows wind and solar energy producers to sell electricity at a stable and profitable. The country has also formulated a “green finance” strategy to ensure that money flows in the direction of climate goals.
This strategic approach has not only made the UK’s electricity cleaner; it has also positioned the country as a major player in the clean energy market.
In 2022, the UK attracted the highest amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in renewables in Europe.
Scotwind (Scotland’s offshore wind tender project) alone has been estimated to have attracted around 28 billion pounds in long-term investment.
Experts predict that should this trend continue, the UK could become a “net exporter of green electricity” to Europe.
The UK has also made significant strides in relation to ensuring a just transition, working with trade unions early on to develop retraining programs and a long-term job creation strategy. On the day the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant shut down, a huge banner was hung that read “Thank You to all Ratcliffe Staff and Contractors for Your Part in this Story.”
A banner hung inside the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant on its final day of operation (Photo: TUC)
So…where exactly does Korea stand?
Finland ditched coal four years early. The UK has said goodbye to more than a century of coal usage. The world’s coal days are numbered.
South Korea’s voice, however, has been noticeably quiet in this conversation.
In 2022, around 39% of South Korea’s electricity generation was coal-powered, and in January of this year, the new Unit 2 of the Samcheok Blue Power coal plant began commercial operation. South Korea is one of only four OECD countries not party to the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA). Most notably, it is the only OECD country with both a “carbon neutrality” and “coal phaseout” target date of 2050, meaning there is no interim plan outlining how and how much coal the country will reduce by that deadline.
“Isn’t it because the government doesn't have money?”
According to a 2023 SFOC study, the cost of shutting down all South Korea’s coal power plants by 2035 is estimated to be around 1.8 trillion Korean won. That’s not a small amount, but it’s doable – and it’s worth every penny. South Korea can afford to shift away from coal early.
And one more thing. South Korea is surrounded by the sea on three sides and gets strong winds in coastal regions like Jeju Island, making the country a favorable location for offshore wind power. Yet, capacity is far from sufficient – at 0.2GW, offshore wind supply meets just 1 percent of the government’s 2030 target (14.3 GW).
Fortunately, February’s passing of the Offshore Wind Special Act now gives the government the lead in identifying offshore wind sites and streamlining the licensing process. That’s a major step towards change.
Here in South Korea, we’ve been late, slow and even backwards sometimes, but now is the moment we say our own goodbyes to the age of coal. I look forward to the day when we too can turn off the lights at the last coal power plant and receive that shiny report card reading “0% coal” like the gift that it is.