The Finnish government is compiling a renewable energy support package which could inject a billion euros into environmentally friendly power.
The existing proposals put aside 170 million euros a year each, for bio fuels, wind power and wood chip technology. While divisions remain within the Finnish government over the details of any package, an agreement is expected to be reached in weeks, reports YLE.
Mauri Pekkarinen, the Minister for Economic Affairs, is campaigning for support for the renewable energy sector to remain separate from new license grants for further nuclear reactors. Pekkarinen said an agreement over renewable energy should be reached before further consideration could be given to how many nuclear reactors are required.
Pekkarinen supports the addition of one new reactor, whereas his National Coalition cabinet colleagues are hoping that all three pending licenses will be granted. The National Coalition believe that the two issues are interwoven and have demaded assurances from Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen that a cabinet majority will support the nuclear programme before agreeing to any energy policy decisions. The Greens are vehemetly opposed to any further expansion of the country’s nuclear power production capacity.
Finland has agreed to an EU commitment to increase renewable energy resources to 38 percent of its total energy production by 2020. In the most recent report in 2005, the renewable energy share was below 30 percent.
The most powerful wind turbine in the world is to be built in the south-western Norwegian area of Oygarden, with hopes that new technology can significantly improve profitability at offshore wind farms. 
The military is blocking wind development plans, according to Finnish Energy Industries (ET). 
The state-owned power company Vattenfall has unveiled plans that may lead to at least one new Swedish nuclear power station, according to a press statement by the firm. 
Former Icelandic Prime Minister and head of the Central Bank of Iceland David Oddsson has been hired as the new editor of Morgunbladid, the country’s most influential and widely bought newspaper. Former Vidskiptabladid editor Haraldur Johannessen will be co-editor and Sigurdur Mar Jonsson will take over at Vidskiptabladid, Iceland’s business and financial newspaper. 
An experiment currently underway in Greenland is trying to learn about the effect of glaciers on bedrock. This project has been organised and funded by global nuclear power companies who are planning to create a final storage facility for their radioactive nuclear waste hundreds of metres underground in bedrock caverns. 
Fridrik Sophusson has stepped down as the director of the National Power Company of Iceland, better known locally as Landsvirkjun. He announced that he will leave his position in autumn this year. He has been director of Landsvirkjun for nearly 10 years and was rehired last autumn.
