Despite the wild spike in electricity prices, energy producers still believe that Finns will continue to receive cheaper electricity than Central Europeans.
Electricity is now record expensive in Finland. However, according to energy producers, Finns do not need to worry about the price of electricity in the long run.
According to information from Energiateollisuus ry, electricity in Finland was almost the cheapest in Europe last year.
The future-proof futures will continue to provide Finland with cheap electricity compared to Central Europe.
in the Nordpool electricity exchange however, the price of electricity in Finland and the Baltic countries is in their own spheres today, Friday. In Finland, electricity now costs almost five times more than in Sweden. Why?
– It is much colder here in Finland. Cold weather increases the need for heating. In Sweden, the situation is calmer, says the energy market leader Pekka Salomaa From the Energy Industry Association.
The organization represents companies that produce, transmit and sell electricity. interviewed Salomaa via video connection.
The frost has not yet disciplined Central Europe either. For example, in Germany and France, electricity costs about a tenth of the prices in Finland on Friday. On Saturday, electricity prices in Central Europe are about half the price in Finland.
Last year, however, Finns were able to enjoy, on average, clearly cheaper electricity than Central European countries. Electricity was cheaper than in Finland only in Sweden.
However, the comparison lacks the countries of Eastern Central Europe.
The transfer connection between Finland and Sweden is improving
Electricity transmission connections equalize prices between countries, but their capacity is very limited.
However, an improvement is expected in 2025. According to Salomaa, the electricity transmission capacity between northern Finland and northern Sweden will increase to approximately 2,000 megawatts, or almost double the current level.
– It has a significant impact on the functioning of the market, Salomaa says.
The transmission connection evens out price fluctuations in both directions. It can be used to increase the import of electricity, and in addition, more electricity produced in Finland in windy weather can be exported to Sweden.
Right now, there are few other means of equalizing price fluctuations.
– Storing electricity as electricity is really expensive. Electricity is mainly stored as fuel and water, says Salomaa.
He points out that the construction of pumped-storage power plants has been planned in order to balance the fluctuation of electricity prices. In times of cheap or free electricity, water could be pumped up, and in times of more expensive electricity, the water would run turbines that produce electricity.
According to Salomaa, the fluctuation of prices will also be influenced by what electricity consumption will be like in Finland in the future. If consumption can be flexible according to prices, price fluctuations will not be so sharp.
Wind power lowers prices in the Nordic countries
In any case, the future of Finnish electricity users looks good in the European comparison.
– The long-term outlook in Finland and Sweden is better than in central Europe, where we are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, Salomaa says.
According to forecasts, electricity in Finland would cost on average only about half of what it would in Germany in the next few years.
In Sweden, the price of electricity varies by region. The area that includes the capital Stockholm has been selected for the comparison below.
Finland’s position is also good compared to the Baltic countries.
From the point of view of the common electricity market, the Baltic countries are behind the bag in Europe in a similar way to Finland. Transmission connections between Finland and the Baltics are limited, and therefore benefit only partially from Finland’s wind energy and nuclear power boom.
– Typically, the price of electricity in the Baltics has been relatively high, often even the most expensive in Europe, Salomaa says.
In the Baltics, the price of electricity also feels like a bigger dent in consumers’ wallets, because the income level of the countries is lower than in Finland.
So, for example, in Estonia, according to Salomaa, there is now a lot of discussion about increasing wind power and nuclear energy, which until now has not been produced at all in Estonia.