PVO-Vesivoima appeals the decision to amend the fisheries obligations for Iijoki hydropower plants

Recent work|March 25, 2025

Roschier represents PVO-Vesivoima Oy in a process concerning changes to the company’s fisheries obligations under the Finnish Water Act.

The Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland has issued a decision to amend the fisheries obligations of the company’s hydropower plants located in the Iijoki river. Roschier is currently assisting the company in an appeals process concerning this amendment decision. Additionally, Roschier supported the company in the process that led to this decision, which was initiated by an application submitted by the Lapland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. The case is a significant precedent in Finnish water law.

The Iijoki river is one of Finland’s most significant rivers harnessed for electricity production. The role of domestic hydropower in providing regulating energy is crucial in reaching Finland’s renewable energy and climate change mitigation targets. As the amendments to the fisheries obligations of the hydropower plants in the Iijoki river would significantly restrict the possibility to produce hydropower, such obligations would have a major negative impact on the functioning of the Finnish electricity system, security of supply and climate change mitigation.

Roschier’s advisory team comprised Matias Wallgren, Sanna-Mari Seppälä, Sofia Lyyra, and Sanni-Sofia Marsala.