Tadaa:
Disturbance at Olkiluoto 3 – operating at only half power | Kauppalehti
12 Likes
These are really coming thick and fast now, at a rate of a couple of “whoopsies” a week.
Other actors besides Nordea should gradually be called for hearings in Parliament as well.
11 Likes
Let’s move the previous message to a better place. There was a discussion about production outages at nuclear power plants and how wind power is “luckily there to help the situation”.
As for the randomness, it is worth looking at the graph below. Minimum -23 MW, maximum 6097 MW. In 2024-2025, unfortunately and irrationally, a total of 3300 megawatts of new wind power capacity is coming to Finland in accordance with previous investment decisions. Sure, we’ll get the maximum even higher, but it will further increase problems for the grid. Taxpayers in Finland will then pay increased transmission fees as a nice income transfer to foreign wind mafia firms, which cheat poor Finnish municipalities out of clean nature and a healthy living environment with state support. The planning monopoly should be taken away from municipalities as soon as possible before all wilderness areas are ruined by harnessing them for industrial electricity production.
https://www.hs.fi/talous/art-2000008308307.html
The reason for the hike is the rising cost of balancing production and consumption in the electricity system. Which is caused by …drumroll… wind power.
Perhaps this table I compiled from open data will open eyes even better:
Wind power produced over 1000 MW of power in Finland in 2024 only about 62% of the time. The nominal capacity at the beginning of the year was 6946 MW, which was never reached. Half of the nominal capacity was reached ~15% of the time, and even a third of the nominal capacity was reached only 30% of the time.
11 Likes
In the spirit of an investment forum, is it possible to invest in these wind mafia firms?
OL3 power level is returning, power now at 930 MW.
Despite everything, the problem with the Finnish electricity system, both now and for the foreseeable future, remains the lack of stable electricity production.
Fortunately, it was a windy day this time—let’s put it that way, even though hope or luck is not a good strategy in investing…
In the past 20 years, policy and market mechanisms haven’t valued stability much.
Those who value stability can opt for a fixed-price contract, or otherwise live with the fluctuating prices dictated by the current energy portfolio and market mechanism.
It really hurts mentally that an essential commodity, which cannot be reasonably stored, costs 70-100% more on an annual basis with this fixed price compared to the old days…
https://keskustelut.inderes.fi/t/sahkomarkkinat-suomessa-ja-maailmalla/45713/138?u=opa
9 Likes
That speculation over the nominal capacity of wind power is always a bit hit-or-miss. As a standalone figure, it doesn’t really lead to anything more than saber-rattling at the local pub, even though the only thing worth focusing on is actual annual wind power production.
If there’s one challenge I’d want to solve, it’s utilizing overproduction in the future for hydrogen production or some other storable form. Whether that’s pumping water into an artificial lake or lifting mass in a mine shaft.
5 Likes
And considering the technical development that has occurred during that time and the production subsidy for electricity produced with renewable energy sources, which encouraged investment years ago but also created millionaires (even in the inner circles of some who advocated for it). The average person cannot understand the market mechanism, but neither do politicians who are busy with all sorts of more “interesting” things and are led by the nose by the wise ones. Oh, and the production subsidy should also apply to home electricity production.
The spot price is only understandable in terms of steering consumption in relation to production. There is no steering effect in fixed-price contracts; consumer behavior may even be the opposite. You show your neighbor, who is suffering in the dark, how your own Christmas lights are blinking during a premium-priced electricity period. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter.
Spot-priced electricity is not suitable if you are forced to use electricity and a peak price might be devastating if it hits at a bad moment, but with steady consumption, it should be cheaper than a fixed price. For the average resident, playing around with spot electricity yields peanuts that, relative to the constant monitoring and stress, are not tolerable for many.
If the current situation of electricity energy is somehow justifiable and tolerable for citizens at current prices, transmission pricing is not. By looking deeper into the administration and compensation mechanisms of transmission companies, one would find all sorts of interesting setups. On the surface, they appear appropriate, but in the background, there are various arrangements. When the arrangements set by politicians allow such things, fixing them is slow. Some things are impossible to get a handle on; only publicity could bring a correction. This is according to a retired industry player who was involved in the matter and, where possible, verified from various sources.
5 Likes
“For the average resident, fiddling with spot electricity yields peanuts that, relative to constant monitoring and stress, aren’t tolerable for many.”
Some of us find it rewarding, even if it’s not economically justifiable relative to the time spent. It doesn’t really matter much in life whether you wash dishes at a price of 4 cents or 2.5 cents, but you can get a good feeling if you do it cheaper.
It’s the same as choosing the larger mayonnaise jar at the store where the price per kilo is 5% lower. Buying those two mayo jars a year doesn’t really build wealth, but you can still get a good feeling from it.
And on the weekend, we knock back 200 euros’ worth of whiskey without thinking much about its rationality. But that also brings a good feeling =)
10 Likes
At the turn of the month, it appeared that the theoretical maximum wind power capacity in the country exceeded 8,000 MW. Days when spot electricity prices spike significantly are becoming rarer, provided that other production doesn’t run into major issues; we’re likely talking about just a few consecutive days of such little wind that prices jump. There’s still the transmission line mess and other factors affecting prices, but in a normal situation, this is the case. Of course, at least one nuclear power plant unit in both Finland and Sweden will presumably malfunction at some point, as is tradition, just to keep life exciting.
8 Likes
A milder-than-normal winter is predicted. +2 degrees or more in terms of average temperature, which likely means longer mild low-pressure periods with more precipitation. Additionally, heavy snowfall is expected in Lapland, which supports hydropower production in early spring. Consequently, electricity production for the coming winter appears relatively stable based on prices.
12 Likes
Well then.
The rains went and the bedbugs came..
No, I mean the freezing temperatures came and the nuclear power plants melted.
Only 2047 MW left in use as Loviisa 2 joined Olkiluoto 3 in the penalty box.
https://umm.nordpoolgroup.com/#/messages/3ec9a152-3c15-4d8e-a29e-99cc8a3ee4aa/1
And if I remember correctly, Olkiluoto 1&2 are still playing this energy game without spare sticks, or how was it again…
15 Likes
Hesari investigated whether there is any sense in purchasing a battery pack. As usual, the sellers’ promises are a bit too grand compared to reality.
1 Like
I have to comment on this, even though it’s quite an old message, that we are very far from the situation you described. Main grid planning is done continuously on many different time scales, starting from long-term forecasting of the energy system. Development plans are drawn up based on where, how, and how much energy will be consumed and produced in Finland, and investment projects are undertaken based on careful planning. The scope of the latest ten-year development plan for the main grid (2024-33) is a total of 4 billion euros. Planning is also not done in a Finland-vacuum but as part of the European framework (ENTSO-E). There are no big surprises in electricity system planning. Local distribution network companies also draw up their own development plans based on their own local starting points, which of course differ greatly from each other.
I don’t see a possibility that the power grids would just suddenly collapse because they haven’t been dimensioned for the current system. The developing country comparison falls short here, as in developing countries, the weakness of power grids is, in my view, part of the comprehensive long-term decay of society.
I understand that this was perhaps intended in a deliberately polemical style, but let’s comment anyway that no one in Finland is forced to monitor the spot price of electricity. At the end of last year, only 31 % of retail electricity contracts were tied to the spot price of electricity. Rather, it’s about increasing consumer choice, and so far, consumer interest has been strongly focused on spot price electricity, as evidenced by the fact that the share of spot price electricity contracts has risen from 14 % → 31 % during 2023 alone.
13 Likes
If the battery business is a good business, why don’t electricity companies offer battery packs for rent? Why is such a new, extra middleman needed to skim off profits?
1 Like
Legislative preparations for the household (and housing company) battery business are still ongoing, so most players are waiting to see what comes out of it. Elisa seems to be the furthest along among the big players (though it is still a very small player).
For example, by 2027, every house will receive a new “electrical panel” (or whatever it’s called). These will come with a built-in electrical relay that can be used to schedule electricity consumption, for instance, for underfloor heating.
But legislative preparations for that are also still ongoing, regarding whether they will potentially be operated by third parties or how. And that also has significance for the overall picture, i.e., the battery business.
The situation is still unclear, but surely within a few years, we will be further along. There is enormous potential in this in the coming years.
It’s probably just an electricity meter, which is indeed installed in the electrical panel. We already have this. It enables real-time consumption to be “read remotely” via the HAN port also by the consumer, from which controls can then be made for various “smart home applications”.
2 Likes
Right. I don’t know more, I just happened to read an article about it from Yle that stuck in my mind.
"Along with the new meters, every home will get a small plastic device that goes by the name of load control relay.
It is a smart relay, with which a spot electricity customer can automatically control their consumption to the cheapest hours of the day.
The device can also cut off electricity, for example, from floor heating, when electricity is expensive."
2 Likes
Apparently, that load control relay thing was new to me. We’ll see who pays if such a gadget has to be installed in the electrical cabinet by law when there’s no extra space left in our cabinet at all. 
Because such an electrical panel upgrade is quite an expensive thing, at least for my income…
Edit: so it didn’t come with the new meter yet because the law is apparently not yet in force…
2 Likes
For us, the load control relay was not installed in the electrical cabinet but next to it.
Otherwise, it was a good change; about a month ago, they came and replaced the meter, and consumption immediately halved because the meter can only establish a connection perhaps half of the time…
5 Likes
How does that affect consumption? It’s calculated from the difference in cumulative readings, so it doesn’t matter if the meter isn’t reporting. The amount of energy will be correct, but its distribution over the missing time period naturally won’t fully reflect your consumption.