Export of electricity from Finland to Russia becomes possible in December
On 7 November 2014, Fingrid and the Russian grid parties signed agreements enabling two-way trading of electricity between Finland and Russia. Until this, cross-country transit of electricity via the 400 kV interconnectors was only possible from Russia to Finland, but now electricity can be transmitted in the other direction, as well.The agreements were signed by Jukka Ruusunen, President & CEO of Fingrid, and President Andrei Murov, of the Russian grid company FGC UES.
In the signing event, Jukka Ruusunen stated that all technical and contractual issues between the companies had been sorted out, and two-way trading can commence in December.
Ruusunen tells us that the trading of electricity between Finland and Russia will be steered by market prices. Export of electricity to Russia will be profitable, when the price of electricity is lower in Finland than in Russia. Such a situation can emerge, for example, in the summer, if a lot of hydropower is available in the Nordic region and consumption in Finland remains at a low level. In Finland, the price of electricity is determined by the Nord Pool electricity exchange. In Russia, the price depends on the Russian electricity exchange, as well as on the capacity fee added to the market price when electricity is exported from Russia.
The two-way transmission connection will also support the electricity supply security in the St. Petersburg region.
Export of electricity from Finland to Russia has been successfully tested using the transmission connection between the countries. In export trading, one of the four 350 MW direct currents located in Vyborg can be used for transmitting electricity from Finland to Russia. A capacity of 320 MW will be provided for commercial use, and the remainder will be used in reserve trading. When transmitting in the opposite direction, from Russia to Finland, a total capacity for 1,400 MW of electricity is available, and 1,300 MW of this is for commercial use. Electricity transmission between these two countries is mainly implemented using the Vyborg direct current connection.
In the past few years, a lot of electricity has been imported to Finland, but the amount of electricity imported to Finland from Russia has significantly decreased from the previous years. However, drastic fluctuation in the volumes of export from Russia within one day has been common. Instead of Russian electricity, an exceptionally large amount of electricity has been imported to Finland from the other Nordic countries.
Further information:
Jukka Ruusunen, President & CEO, Fingrid, tel. +358 30 395 5140
Risto Lindroos, Senior Consultant, Fingrid, tel. +358 30 395 5139
The agreements were signed by President Andrei Murov, of the Russian grid company FGC UES and Jukka Ruusunen, President & CEO of Fingrid.