It remains to be seen under what conditions those offshore wind projects will be implemented, if they are implemented. My understanding is that their situation is somewhat similar to nuclear power; that is, it would be good if offshore wind power were part of Finland’s energy mix, but without state support, they won’t get started. Erecting turbines offshore seems to be roughly twice as expensive compared to onshore wind turbines, and the annual production is only about one-third higher.
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Slight power increase observed…
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This is what is enabling the construction behind OX2’s project. I don’t know what level of compensation is paid for electricity, but with this method, it probably doesn’t matter how much electricity costs on the market, even if it’s in the negative. Are there similar plans for offshore wind farms? Well, at least it will bring more activity.
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Tiktok plans to build a data center in Finland:
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Regarding these investments, it might be wise to put a hold on them and at least consider how these large operators can genuinely generate income for the national economy, instead of the ordinary taxpayer and electricity consumer suffering. A huge outcry already arose when a tax increase was planned for them instead of the current non-existent tax; the matter seems to be on hold at the moment. Finland cannot allow its own resources to be exploited for free in every matter, be it energy, the mining industry, or other natural resources. Finland must also be able to think of its own interests and not naively promise everything possible generously, which ultimately backfires.
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The transition to quarter-hourly pricing in the electricity market is delayed until the end of September.
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In Sweden, several wind farms have already gone bankrupt precisely because of these PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) contracts. These seem to include a guarantee of electricity production → when there’s no wind, the wind company has to buy expensive electricity from the market. Did Amazon come shopping on the Finnish side when the fools ran out in Sweden 
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This frenzy should probably be seriously considered so that we don’t unleash the devil. A cold winter and electricity shortage, data centers require electricity and citizens pay a fortune, we might still be in trouble with these if the fervor becomes too intense.
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It’s surprising that it hasn’t really been suggested much that every wind power project, along with solar power and other variable energy generation, should be mandated to integrate some form of energy storage. Some of these are already being done, so it’s hardly an impossible task.
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In my opinion, such proposals are bad for two reasons:
- they punish production for consuming too much electricity at the wrong time
- they make additional investments in production less profitable
So, if energy storage is to be supported, that money should be collected from consumers rather than producers. And on the other hand, the market will bring those storages into use if it’s economically viable – and it has. The more price fluctuations start to cause problems – i.e., the more expensive peaks there are – the greater the incentive to build storages. The same mechanism applies to nuclear power: electricity is still far too cheap to even consider commercial nuclear power. We have thus become accustomed to far too cheap electricity in Finland before the wars.
All kinds of punitive fees that restrict production are, in my opinion, really bad and only weaken our production self-sufficiency. It would be a different matter if the fee were collected neutrally from everyone. Either from all producers and/or all consumers. Punishing wind or solar power production would make no sense.
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It sounds to me like it’s worth signing a two-year fixed contract this summer.
In the summer, electricity is almost free and life is pleasant then, but consumption is so low that winter decides the difference between fixed and spot electricity. January alone seems to correspond to 2-3 months of summer electricity consumption in an electrically heated terraced house. And the price tag probably easily corresponds to the bills for the entire summer - if January has been mild. January 2024 alone accounted for something like 30% of the entire year’s electricity bill.
The transmission cannot be influenced in any way now, and clearly the trend is that it rises exactly as much annually as the law allows. It’s great that foreign owners get their risk-free income. Damn, if only one could also, as a small investor, invest directly in Finnish electricity infrastructure and steal the profits with the same principle.
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Or could it be that electricity is produced at the wrong time? Or well, in fact, the government has wanted this by heavily subsidizing renewable production, and it works well up to a certain limit.
- they make additional investments in production less profitable
They specifically make investments in new production profitable. If consumption during free or negative hours can be increased or energy stored for later use, then the price of electricity will specifically rise and new capacity can be built.
Indeed, markets find ways, and the euro is a good consultant. For example, electric boilers rising in every parish, which undoubtedly enable additional production of renewables in their own way, as more consumption can be achieved during so-called free hours and perhaps the price can be raised a little. It is worth considering, however, whether things can be accelerated through regulation.
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For example, feed-in tariffs have not been granted for years, and most of the wind power produced in Finland does not fall under them. The system ended, if I recall correctly, already in 2017. Most of the current capacity has been built since then.
And still, it is not the producer’s fault that it doesn’t always blow; electricity is produced at exactly the right time: when it is possible. So the alternative is either not to produce any electricity from wind, or to produce it when it is windy. I still can’t think of a single good reason to punish a wind power producer for it not always being windy. To punish them for producing electricity even when it is windy. It’s idiotic and ideological opposition to wind power, which you usually hear from supporters of exactly one party. Fortunately, most people do not support such ideological punitive fees.
Wind power has been built here for years, gigawatts worth, on market terms and profitably. Punitive fees do not improve profitability; they weaken it. Nothing prevents wind power producers from building those battery storages already if they are profitable. They haven’t been forbidden; they just haven’t been profitable enough yet because the investment costs of battery systems are not low enough. Fortunately, prices are strongly decreasing, so their number will automatically increase without punitive fees.
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I was just looking at Fingrid’s website at the electricity production capacities, mainly concerning solar power. The current estimate is a little under 1500 MW, and on the best day, production approaches 1000 MW. It just occurred to me that this summer period would indeed be best from the consumer’s perspective for performing maintenance on nuclear and other plants, as consumption is low anyway. There seemed to be some schedule changes known regarding next year’s maintenance, so that they wouldn’t be started too early in spring. Could these holiday months be the main reason they are not done in summer? No one is interested then, as there’s still time until the frosts, and it can be done later anyway.
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It’s probably this common market that’s the biggest reason, as you can’t shut down all power plants in Sweden and Finland at the same time… And then I have a hunch that pretty much the same specialized crew is doing these maintenance jobs 
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In the morning, I quickly checked Fingrid’s pages as the Aurora line comes into use. Since the beginning of the year, wind power capacity has increased by 1000 MW, solar power by 400 MW, and now an additional 700 MW of transmission capacity is coming online. About 300 MW has been decommissioned, and battery storage has also been added. The long-term weather forecast last showed a milder-than-normal period for December-February. In early February, solar power will start to grow rapidly, so until we can again operate without major technical problems in nuclear power plants, things will go well, excluding short windless periods. My strong belief is that the market electricity price will remain at least reasonably cheap, and if I remember correctly, OL3’s maintenance is postponed, so in spring, the price will drop even further compared to previous years for that reason. Some of those large industrial consumers might also shut down, but then no energy will be sold out of them in any form.
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New electricity transmission connection between Finland and Sweden taken into use | MTV News
It seems to be in use now, not yet visible on Fingrid’s system status page:
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Yes, it is visible there. For tomorrow, there are also day-ahead trades for over 1900 MW, meaning the connection is in good use.
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This doesn’t go into the state’s coffers, but to the electricity grid companies.
The power charge is quite okay in its basic idea. The electricity grid’s capacity must be dimensioned according to how much simultaneous power demand there is in the area, so it’s right that those who use more at once pay more for transmission. From the electricity grid’s perspective, it’s therefore better that the sauna is not heated at the same time as the car is charged, etc.
What mainly bothers me is that there is already one power charge currently: the size of the main fuse affects the basic transmission fee. I don’t see a reason for two overlapping systems; instead, if a new power charge is introduced, the old one should be abandoned (for small houses).
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No, that doesn’t go directly to the state. But the electricity transmission company will certainly pay more to Fingrid in the future. So it just transfers partially to the pockets of the state/pension companies through an intermediary. 5kW is too low a lower limit; even until now, systems have been dimensioned so that everyone uses the sauna at the same time on Saturday, plus heating is on. So the power limit should be the 14kW that the single-family house association proposes. If another limit is chosen, this is just a new money-making machine. Electric cars are the new factor that could justify a power fee, but if you charge them at a different time than when people are in the sauna, the network isn’t loaded any more than before. So a power fee is okay, but 5kW is just a new money-making machine.
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