The electricity sector in Finland relies on nuclear power, renewable energy, cogeneration and electricity import from neighboring countries. Finland has the highest per-capita electricity consumption in the EU. Co-generation of heat and electricity for industry process heat and district heating is common. Finland is one of the last countries in the world still burning peat.
As part of the energy transition Finland has been replacing electricity generation from fossil fuels with nuclear power and renewables. Wind power in particular has grown to be a significant part of electricity generation. A fifth nuclear reactor, Olkiluoto 3 was commissioned in 2023 and increased nuclear power generation by over 50%.
Finland is part of the synchronous grid of Northern Europe.
Consumption and import Industry was the majority consumer of electricity between 1990 and 2005 with 52–54% of total consumption. The forest industry alone consumed 30–32%.Statistic 3.1, Year book 2006, Tilastokeskus
Between 2000 and 2006, up to 7 TWh per year was imported from Sweden and up to 11.5 TWh from Russia. Net imports during this time varied between 7 TWh to Sweden and 7 TWh from Sweden, and 4 to 11 TWh from Russia. Since 2007, some electricity has also been imported from Estonia.Energia, tilastokeskus, T3.01 Electricity import and export by country (Sähkön tuonti ja vienti maittain)
In 2012, most of the imports were from Sweden (14.4 TWh net import) with Russia also contributing to the net imbalance (4.4 TWh import only), while exports to Estonia were larger than imports (1.1 TWh net export).
Since Russia has begun the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, imports from Russia ended. Yearly net import was down 5 TWh as a result.
Since May 2023, Unit 3 of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant is producing electricity, up to 14 TWh per year. In 2024, only 3.8 % of the consumed electricity was imported.see [#Mode of production|section 'mode of production']. The peak was in 2019 when 23.3 % were imported.
Electricity in Finland TWh Energiaennakko 2009 Tilastokeskus 2010 Year Consumption Production Net import 2000 79 67 12 2001 81 71 10 2002 84 72 12 2003 85 80 5 2004 87 82 5 2005 85 68 17 2006 90 79 11 2007 90 78 13 2008 87 74 13 2009 81 69 12 2010 88 77 11 2011 84 70 14 2012 85 67 17 2013 84 68 16 2014 83 65 18 2015 82 67 16 2016 85 66 19 2017 85 65 20 2018 87 68 20 2019 86 66 20 2020 82 67 15 2021 87 69 18 2022 82 69 13 2022 82 69 13 2023 80 78 2 2024 83 80 3
Preliminary data
Capacity
, the total capacity of power generation in Finland is 19.7 GW. However, not all of that is available at the same time and an increasing amount is intermittent generation, mostly from wind power (see below). Grid batteries are being installed, such as the 60 MWh Simojoki BESS.
The national grid operator Fingrid, together with TSOs from other Nordic countries, produces yearly estimates about the availability of power in the winter demand peak. In 2019–2020 they estimated a peak Finnish demand of 15.3 GW, during which Finland would have 11.9 GW of production capacity, not including capacity reserves. That would have meant a shortfall of 3.4 GW to be imported from neighbors. Due to a mild winter and industrial strikes the actual demand peak was only 12.4 GW and availability was never in question. No capacity reserve was activated.
In 2022–23, with imports from Russia ended, there were concerns about availability while Olkiluoto 3 was still in testing. Fingrid created a voluntary support mechanism of 500 MW of demand response, which did not need to be called upon. For 2023–24, the Energy Authority found that no capacity reserve was needed with OL3 in operation.
Mode of production
Electricity by mode of production (%) Year Hydro Wind Solar Nuclear Coal Oil Gas Peat Wood Other Imports2005 15.9% 0.2% 0.0% 26.4% 7.2% 0.5% 12.9% 5.0% 10.3% 1.7% 20.1%2006 12.6% 0.2% 0.0% 24.4% 16.9% 0.5% 13.3% 6.9% 11.1% 1.5% 12.7%2007 15.5% 0.2% 0.0% 24.9% 14.4% 0.5% 11.3% 7.7% 10.1% 1.7% 13.9%2008 19.4% 0.3% 0.0% 25.3% 9.1% 0.7% 12.3% 5.6% 10.9% 1.8% 14.6%2009 15.5% 0.3% 0.0% 27.8% 12.8% 0.6% 11.8% 5.1% 9.7% 1.6% 14.9%2010 14.5% 0.3% 0.0% 25.0% 15.5% 0.5% 12.5% 6.7% 11.4% 1.6% 12.0%2011 14.6% 0.6% 0.0% 26.4% 10.8% 0.5% 10.9% 6.0% 12.0% 1.8% 16.4%2012 19.6% 0.6% 0.0% 25.9% 7.8% 0.3% 7.7% 4.0% 11.8% 1.8% 20.5%2013 15.1% 0.9% 0.0% 27.0% 11.9% 0.2% 7.9% 3.5% 12.8% 2.0% 18.7%2014 15.9% 1.3% 0.0% 27.1% 8.9% 0.2% 6.5% 3.8% 12.6% 2.0% 21.5%2015 20.1% 2.8% 0.0% 27.1% 5.8% 0.2% 6.2% 3.5% 12.3% 2.2% 19.8%2016 18.4% 3.6% 0.0% 26.2% 7.7% 0.2% 4.3% 3.2% 12.0% 2.3% 22.3%2017 17.1% 5.6% 0.1% 25.2% 6.5% 0.2% 3.8% 3.0% 12.3% 2.2% 23.9%2018 15.0% 6.7% 0.1% 25.0% 6.2% 0.3% 4.7% 3.7% 12.7% 2.8% 22.8%2019 14.2% 7.0% 0.2% 26.6% 4.8% 0.3% 4.4% 3.3% 13.5% 2.5% 23.3%2020 19.2% 9.7% 0.3% 27.4% 2.8% 0.2% 4.8% 2.4% 12.6% 2.2% 18.5%2021 17.9% 9.4% 0.3% 26.0% 2.9% 0.2% 4.3% 2.2% 13.9% 2.2% 20.4%2022 16.3% 14.1% 0.5% 29.7% 4.0% 0.3% 1.1% 2.5% 13.9% 2.3% 15.3%2023 18.8% 18.1% 0.9% 41.0% 1.9% 0.3% 0.8% 1.3% 12.7% 2.3% 2.2%2024 17.0% 24.4% 1.1% 37.5% 1.0% 0.3% 0.9% 0.8% 11.2% 2.1% 3.8%
Fossil fuels
Except for peat, which is variously classed as either a fossil fuel or a slow-renewable fuel, Finland imports all the fossil fuels used for electricity production. Coal and natural gas account for most of the production, with some oil generators acting mostly as reserve. The use of fossil fuels has fallen from highs over 30% in 2003–2004 to 20% or below in 2012–2014. By 2020 the share was closer to 10%. This is largely a consequence of cheap imported electricity, although domestic renewables have also increased in their share of production.
In 2019 the parliament passed a law to ban the use of coal for energy production by May 1, 2029. there are no plans to ban other fossil fuels. Despite popular support for banning the use of peat, there is only a commitment to halve its use by 2030. However, it is estimated that market forces will reduce peat's energy use to a third of its 2019 level by 2025.
Nuclear power
Renewable energy
Between 2005 and 2014, Finland produced 25–30% of electricity as a percentage of demand from renewable energy. The largest source was hydropower (15–20%) which fluctuates yearly depending on rainfall, causing the share of renewable generation to also vary. Other major renewable sources were wood-based energy resources like black liquor from the forest industry, accounting for approximately 12% on average.
In recent years wind power (see below) has grown to surpass hydro and renewable electricity altogether has reached 50% of demand. Solar power has also started to contribute.
Wind power
Companies
Production Major producers in Finland include: Fortum, Pohjolan Voima, Teollisuuden Voima and Helsingin Energia.
Market Nord Pool Spot is the shared power market for Finland and nearby countries.
Transmission Fingrid Oyj is a Finnish national electricity transmission grid operator.
Distribution Major distributors are: Helen Oy, Caruna and Elenia. Other companies are (Savo), Pohjois-Karjalan Sähkö (Northern Karelia, Järvi-Suomen Energia (Central Finland), Kymenlaakson Sähkö (Kymenlaakso) and Loiste (Kajaani and Sotkamo).
Caruna in the south of Finland is owned mostly (80%) by Australian and Dutch holding and property companies. In 2017 Caruna's turn-over was €145 million and state tax rate 4% (€6 million). In 2017 Caruna paid its stakeholders 8.17% interest (77 million) while market loans were 1.5–3% interest.Hallitus antaa Carunan verovälttelyn jatkua Finnwatch 26/10/2018 Company interest cost were reduced from the taxable income based on Sipilä Cabinet taxation rules.
Politics In 2016 there has been renewed discussion about Finland's energy policy. Finland imports over 20% of the electricity used at peak usage. For example, in the hour between 17 and 18 on January 7, 2016, during a period of extreme cold, Finland imported 4,300 MW (28.5%) out of a record 15,100 MW of total usage (average over 1 hour). Multiple delays in the construction of the third reactor at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant (1,600 MW) exacerbated the domestic energy production deficit, until finally starting regular production in April 2023. A consortium of Finnish industry and power companies called Fennovoima has applied and been granted a permission to build another new nuclear power plant, delivered by Russia's Rosatom, which also has a 1/3 stake on the power plant. This has caused some concern among observers about Russia being able to manipulate Nordic electricity prices or use the power plant as a leverage in conflict situations. The plant was estimated to be operational by 2024 and projected to produce 1,200 MW of electricity, but all work was stopped in 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) indicated in 2016 that foreign intelligence activity in Finland was aimed at influencing decision-making in energy policy.
See also
Energy in Finland Nordic energy market Economy of Finland
References