EUR 100 million European support to Fingrid for network upgrade
Fingrid has signed a EUR 100 million loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in support of rehabilitation and further development of parts of the Finnish electricity transmission network.
The EIB financing will support Fingrid’s investment programme, which aims to rehabilitate and develop the electricity transmission network that stretches throughout all of Finland. The addition of a new line to the north-south interconnector will enable new wind energy - planned in the north of the country - to reach load centres in the south. Refurbishment of lines and substations will replace infrastructure at the end of its lifetime with more efficient and modernised equipment, adapted to current consumption volumes.
Fingrid’s investment programme also includes the implementation of a centralised information exchange system (“data hub”) for the electricity retail market. The hub will collect and maintain data from 3.5 million electricity-metering points in Finland. The information contained in the system can then be used by some 100 electricity suppliers and over 80 distribution network companies serving electricity consumers.
”As shown by recent investments, the Finnish energy sector is high on the EIB’s agenda.” said EIB Vice-President Alexander Stubb. ”Whether it’s about future-proofing networks or adapting them to extreme weather conditions, this is the kind of large infrastructure that the EIB has been financing for decades. The simple fact that our electricity consumption continues to increase, means that we must make sure that our networks can handle that. I’m happy that Fingrid is thinking ahead also for the integration of more renewable energy into the grid, something we wholeheartedly support.”
”We are very pleased with EIB’s continuous support and its latest decision to finance Fingrid’s core investments. These investments enable the transformation of the electricity system to accommodate increasing amounts of renewable energy and facilitate electricity market information exchange, by bringing consumers to the centre of the electricity markets.” added Jukka Ruusunen, the President and CEO of Fingrid.