Court overturns plan for 190-hectare Loviisa solar farm

Helsinki Administrative Court has blocked a planned large-scale solar farm in Jokiniemi, Loviisa, Yle reports. Its decision means the area’s 190 hectares of valuable farmland may be preserved.

The court ruled on two appeals against a local master plan intended to allow the industrial-scale solar farm. It said the plan failed to account for the cultural and landscape values of Jokiniemi’s fields, which are recognised as a regionally significant cultural environment in the Uusimaa regional plan. The court therefore annulled the city council’s decision to approve the plan.

The project, proposed by Sweden’s Alight and Finland’s 3Flash, would have covered fields belonging to Jokiniemi Manor in Ruotsinpyhtää, about 16 kilometres northeast of central Loviisa. The companies previously estimated that the plant would generate about 155 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year, equivalent to the annual consumption of around 31,000 households. Construction was planned to begin in 2027.

The court’s decision can be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court if it grants permission to appeal.