Doubling of submarine cable link between Sweden and Finland facilitates the electricity market

The Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry has granted a cross-border line permit to the extension of the submarine cable link between Finland and Sweden. The extension will be carried out in co-operation between Fingrid Oyj and Svenska Kraftnät. The capital expenditure project of about 300 million euros - Fenno-Skan 2 - will be complete in 2010. The project will improve considerably the functioning of the Nordic electricity market.Fenno-Skan 2 is one of Nordel’s five priority cross-sections in the Nordic countries, costing a total of one thousand million euros. All these cross-sections are due to be ready at around 2010.

Nordel, the organisation of the Nordic transmissions system operators (TSOs), uses the capital expenditure programme to facilitate the electricity market mechanisms and improve system security.

“The Nordic countries are committed to promoting the electricity market through highly concrete action. Electricity transmissions between Finland and Sweden are presently subject to relatively random restrictions, accounting for approximately 5 to 10 per cent of the time. Once Fenno-Skan 2 is ready, the restrictions will reduce to 2 per cent, and the volume of the market will be at least 250 terawatt hours,” says Jukka Ruusunen, President and CEO of Fingrid Oyj, the Finnish TSO.

Fenno-Skan 2 will increase the electricity transmission capacity between Finland and Sweden by approx. 40 per cent, integrating the Nordic electricity market even more closely together. In practice, the project will reduce temporary differences in the price of electricity between the various countries within the electricity market. The cable will also reduce losses in the Nordic transmission grids and improve power system security. The costs of system services will reduce, and the risk of power shortage in the Nordel area will diminish.

Fenno-Skan 2 will be an 800 megawatt and 500 kilovolt electricity transmission connection between Finland and Sweden. The connection will be a direct current link. The total length of the link will be approx. 270 kilometres, of which the actual submarine cable will account for some 200 kilometres.

Converter stations will be constructed at each end of the link. In Finland, the new link will be connected to the grid at the Rauma substation. In Sweden, the connection point to the Swedish grid is the Finnböle substation to be built north of Stockholm. Further information:
Jukka Ruusunen, President & CEO, tel. +358 (0)30 395 5140 or
Timo Kiiveri, Project Manager, tel. +358 (0)30 395 5121