Good if that’s the case, I’ve just been looking at those numbers flashing on the screen and they don’t match reality.
I hastily thought we were talking about the effect of the control relay on consumption here
as it is a factor that increases consumption from the energy market’s perspective. At some point, people started writing here and there about how energy consumption is predicted to increase. Many didn’t believe it, as the trend had been downwards. Now, however, there are several increasing factors.
It depends on the network, because some networks import delta values (quarter-hourly or hourly power calculated from readings) into MDM systems, and then readings cannot be used for interpolating gaps (in electricity markets, this is called estimation). In such cases, an average calculated from 3 weeks of history is used, and the last resort is to calculate from an annual consumption forecast, which takes into account a model time series curve calculated from the average values for the whole of Finland (this is currently called the 9-curve). That last method of estimation calculation can be quite inaccurate. If calculation fails with these methods, then gaps indeed remain, which the network tries to correct as soon as possible and prevent billing (in monthly billing, there must be no gaps in the hourly or quarter-hourly series). These rules come from the recommendation of Finnish Energy (Energiateollisuus) for estimation calculation.
Those can indeed be challenging ways to calculate very accurately, for example, for a spring-summer-autumn cottage that is sometimes used for a couple of weekends/year and sometimes for 5 months/year ![]()
But maybe then we’ll go with those gaps (if there are gaps) ------- ----- ----------- ----
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In the ET recommendation, there is a guideline that summer cottage type properties are marked under “Main Switch Site”, where the resident is likely to turn off all power completely from the main switch. For these sites, 0 consumption is estimated, because they are “Main Switch Site” properties. In practice, the consumer benefits.
The networks have gradually noticed that the recommendation does not take a stand on situations where, based on readings, there was some consumption and it would be the same “Main Switch Site”, yet the guideline states that 0 consumption must be calculated. To some extent, there can be estimations for “Main Switch Site” based on readings, and predicted consumption is calculated, which corresponds to the reading data.
In addition, a variable is added to this, which makes the calculations less precise for end-users. Billing is done at hourly resolution, but the estimation is done in quarter-hours, because the metering itself is already in quarter-hours. And in that, Datahub has instructed that the metering unit kWh/kW must be rounded to 3 decimal places (if I recall correctly). In that, rounding causes situations where the calculated consumption in quarter-hours does not exactly match the readings.
In Norway, there’s sometimes talk about energy integration in the other direction too:
https://x.com/visegrad24/status/1867277309771735127
Machine translation of the tweet text:
“Norwegian politicians are starting a campaign to dismantle underwater power cables with mainland Europe after Germany’s decision to scrap its nuclear power plants causes electricity price spikes in Southern Norway.
The Skagerrak 1 and 2 links (500 MW) were commissioned in 1976 and 1977, and they will reach the end of their technical lifespan in 2026 and 2027.
Norwegian regional politicians are now urging the government not to renew the country’s two oldest power connections to Denmark and Germany, aiming to lower local electricity prices.
Norway currently has 9 GW of exchange capacity with neighboring countries, of which 5.1 GW is to Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.
Energy Minister Terje Aasland says he understands people’s anger, stating “the situation is crap”
Germany’s weather conditions today caused a “Dunkelflaute” (cold weather with no wind and no sunlight), making it impossible to get energy from wind and solar on a cold and dark day when demand is high.
Because Germany has very little baseload power left after dismantling all its nuclear power plants, the country is instead forced back into importing energy from other countries according to EU rules, which raises prices there.
Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy
@BuschEbba
announced today that she is “furious with the Germans”.
Due to Merkel’s and Scholz’s decisions to abandon Germany’s nuclear power, people in Southern Sweden and Southern Norway now have to pay $5 for a 10-minute shower.
During today’s peak, prices in parts of Scandinavia were between 700-900 euros per 1 megawatt-hour.”
->“Dunkelflaute” also raises electricity prices in Southern Norway, which is understandably frustrating.
Not everyone has X or an interest in opening a link there, so here it is.
To sum up: mainly connections to Europe and Great Britain are mentioned as the subject of concern. Now the price spike was terrible in Norway. The most populist parties promise to do something about it and make it an agenda item in next autumn’s elections. And that thought, in turn, naturally frightens the EU.
“A lack of wind in Germany and the North Sea will push electricity prices in southern Norway to NKr13.16 ($1.18) per kilowatt hour on Thursday afternoon, their highest level since 2009 and almost 20 times their level just last week. “It’s an absolutely shit situation,” said Norway’s energy minister Terje Aasland. The ruling centre-left Labour party now says it wants to campaign in next year’s parliamentary election, set for September, to turn off electricity interconnectors to Denmark when they come up for renewal in 2026. Its junior coalition partner, the Centre party, has long demanded an end to the Danish connection and also wants to renegotiate existing interconnectors with the UK and Germany.”
Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear energy certainly competes in the series of the century’s most foolish political decisions. Absolutely epic fumbling.
More foolish than Germany’s decision to commit to Russia and natural gas?
Yes. Then they import mainly nuclear-produced electricity from France when their own production is not enough.
https://x.com/StaffanReveman/status/1830171874141016362
“In the first 8 months of 2024, Germany imported a net 20 TWh of electrical energy. Almost half was supplied by France. In the 12 months of 2023, Germany imported a total of 11.7 TWh. In previous years, Germany was a net exporter of electricity.

The only positive thing about imports is that their share is mainly produced by nuclear and hydropower, both are fossil-free. The downside of imports is the dependence on supplies during periods when solar and wind power are not available in Germany.”
Furthermore, when comparing electricity exports to the location of nuclear power plants, it is clear in Europe where there is no nuclear power:

https://x.com/natroposfera/status/1830545085747900918
Hopefully, energy companies won’t be so eager to sell their transmission networks to foreign investment companies anymore. After that, it’s just profiteering from Finnish electricity users, in the style of Caruna and Elenia, and no funds are allocated for the maintenance of transmission networks when profits are only in the tens/hundreds of millions. Fortunately, my own Verkko Korpela is not going into this, at least as far as I know, even though Elenia largely controls the networks around it.
Investment in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Finland offers a significant opportunity due to the country’s ambitious climate goals and the rapid proliferation of renewable energy sources. As the country progresses towards carbon neutrality, BESS investments are expected to play a significant role in its renewable energy landscape. Furthermore, due to the importance of energy storage for grid stability, Finland offers supportive policies for BESS investments.
Volatile energy markets and BESS’s diverse ancillary and wholesale markets offer attractive revenue streams for investors. For example, in 2023, investment company Exilion demonstrated a significant return, €40,700/MW/month with Capalo AI’s optimization. With the right optimizer and trading strategies, investing in BESS in Finland is undoubtedly a lucrative opportunity.
This was directly copied from the Capalo AI website; that ‘return’ should probably be ‘revenue’.
I am primarily interested in this for the following reason:
Some kind of battery boom has started during 2024 and, as I understand it, will continue to grow on an industrial scale as those reserve and grid balancing markets are needed.
New 70 MW/140 MWh (i.e., 2 hours of charging) battery plant under construction in Nivala. It should be ready next year:
Today, an announcement was made that Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy. The Swedish state did not come to its rescue. Northvolt’s biggest customers were likely Scania, plus VW Group and Volvo.
I just wonder how many Gigafactory projects are underway in Europe? I mean, where work is actually being done on the Gigafactory site, not just an announcement. Only the Indian Tata’s Gigafactory project in Somerset, England, comes to mind for me. The project’s funding is in order, and the main users are Land Rover/Jaguar and Toyota.
A year ago, there were many announcements about Gigafactory projects, and they were mainly joint ventures with Chinese/Korean operators. Once the EV boom frenzy was over, only announcements of Gigafactory projects being postponed by a few years or equally vague statements started to emerge.
The EU has demanded European battery production, but but…
Finland’s largest wind power investment to date, with a total nominal capacity of 472 MW. At the end of last year, the total nominal capacity of power plants in Finland was 8358 MW:
It’s a bit tragicomic to mess around with these nuclear power plants. It will be interesting to see if a phase is ahead where all units are shut down simultaneously if unit three’s maintenance is delayed and unit one’s maintenance should begin.
What incredible messing around with these schedules. How difficult is it to plan maintenance schedules that actually hold true?
Do you perhaps own Fortum or some other electricity producer? Probably the first time ever I’ve seen anyone complain about the price of electricity falling or about OL3 being brought into production “too early” ![]()
In answer to the actual question:
"The annual maintenance of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant involves many important maintenance measures that ensure the safe and efficient operation of the plant. Here are some key measures:
- Fuel replacement: The nuclear reactor’s fuel is replaced with new fuel
- Tightness tests: The tightness of the reactor and its components is tested
- Pump maintenance: Maintenance and inspection of reactor pumps
- Steam generator cleaning and inspection: Steam generators are cleaned and inspected
- Replacement of electrical penetrations: Replacement of electrical penetrations in the containment building
In addition to TVO’s personnel, about 1000 subcontractor employees participate in the maintenance work
The work is planned and scheduled precisely, and it is carried out in several shifts around the clock"
I would assume that the work is done as quickly as safely possible, and thus it is quite difficult to make a completely accurate schedule for risky operations involving over a thousand employees.


The faster
the more
is left for us consumers ![]()
I tried to write in the spirit of the thread and criticized the planning and execution of power plant maintenance. I figured someone has to complain about this too, because others never know how to do their jobs. This is just a bit of a difficult sport. ![]()
https://www.ymparisto.fi/fi/osallistu-ja-vaikuta/ymparistovaikutusten-arviointi/laineen-merituulivoamahanke-perameri
From today until June 19, 2025, those concerned can submit their statements on the EIA report. The wind farm will be massive if realized, with a power output of 2200-2800 MWh from a maximum of 150 turbines, an estimated 11 TWh per year. Several other offshore wind farms are also being planned, and electricity production capacity will clearly increase dramatically before 2030 when planned solar power is added to this.