According to preliminary data from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), the use of solid wood fuels in heating and power plants decreased by 5 percent in 2025. The biggest change was in the use of wood chips, which fell by 13 percent from the previous year.
The use of solid wood fuels in heating and power plants declined for the fourth consecutive year. The decline was driven in particular by an exceptionally warm year and investments made in recent years to replace combustion-based heat production.
In 2025, a total of 20.8 million solid cubic meters of solid wood fuels were used in heating and power plants, corresponding to an energy content of 40.8 terawatt-hours. The largest share was solid by-product wood from the forest industry, totaling 10.4 million cubic meters. A total of 9.1 million cubic meters of wood chips were burned, and the remainder consisted of recycled wood, wood pellets, and briquettes.
Use of wood chips in heating and power plants decreased significantly
The use of wood chips in heating and power plants decreased by 13 percent from the previous year, totaling 9.1 million cubic meters. Wood chips are wood harvested directly from the forest and chipped for burning, produced from logging residues, pruned and unpruned trunks, and stumps.
The majority of wood chips, a total of 6.3 million cubic meters, were produced from pruned trunks and unpruned whole trees. The volume decreased by 17 percent from the previous year. A total of 2.6 million cubic meters of logging residues, mainly collected from regeneration areas, were burned, which is three percent less than the previous year. Stumps account for a minor share of the energy source, and their use continued to decline by one-tenth to 0.2 million cubic meters.
“The use of wood chips decreased significantly in 2025, as the exceptionally mild year reduced the need for heat production. At the same time, the supply of forest industry by-product wood increased, and the electrification of heat production as well as the utilization of waste heat replaced the use of wood fuels,” notes Senior Actuary Markus Toikka of Luke.
The amount of forest industry by-product wood and wood pellets burned increased
Energy use of solid by-product wood from the forest industry increased by three percent from the previous year, rising to 10.4 million cubic meters. This volume accounted for about half of the solid wood fuels consumed by heating and power plants.
Bark was the most important by-product wood fraction burned, at 6.4 million cubic meters. Four million cubic meters of industrial wood chips, various types of sawdust, and other unclassified wood residues were used. Waste liquors from the pulp industry are also a significant forest industry by-product utilized for energy, but they are not included in the statistics on solid wood fuels.
The use of wood pellets and briquettes in heating and power plants increased by 15 percent to a total of 460,000 tons. Energy use of recycled wood, on the other hand, decreased by six percent to one million cubic meters.