Fingrid’s network vision published
Fingrid has published its vision of the long-term development needs and solutions for the main grid. The network vision is based on scenarios describing the structure of electricity generation and consumption. The electricity sector will play a crucial role in reaching climate targets, requiring scale of billion to be invested in the main grid.
The network vision found that Finland’s target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2035 will require significant investments of the order of three billion euros in the main grid over the next 15 years. The investments in the main grid will enable tens of billions of euros to be invested in other areas of society: the electrification of industry, transport and heating, as well as clean energy generation. Fingrid has already updated its investment plan for the next ten years on the basis of the vision.
Jussi Jyrinsalo, Senior Vice President responsible for Main Grid Planning, says: “The electricity sector will play a crucial role in reaching the climate targets, and Fingrid is committed to doing everything it can to enable an energy revolution in Finland. Our updated investment plan is in line with the carbon-neutral Finland 2035 target.” Investments must be made to strengthen the main grid in order to enable a substantial increase in the consumption of electricity in industry, heating and transport. The impact of the investments on the unit price of grid service fees will be offset by the forecast rise in electricity consumption.
Increase in the volume of electricity transmitted from north to south – New cross-border connection also required
In all the scenarios examined, the need to transmit electricity from the north to the south will increase significantly. Finland needs several times the current north-to-south transmission capacity on the main grid, and this must be boosted by constructing new transmission lines and deploying smart solutions. This is necessary in order to maintain a uniform bidding zone for electricity trading in Finland and enable electricity to be traded at the same market price throughout the country.
Creating new cross-border transmission connections to Sweden and the Baltic countries by 2035 would help Finland to reach its climate targets. The market benefits of the connections depend on the development of the electricity market in the Baltic Sea region and other transmission connections in the region. Fingrid will continue to analyse the new transmission connections to Sweden and the Baltic States in more detail as part of the international cooperation in grid planning.
In the 2030s, Finland’s electricity generation and consumption could increase very rapidly. For example, this could occur as a consequence of strong growth in energy-intensive industries or energy exports. In such a case, new technical solutions would be needed to enable a material increase in the electricity transmission capacity of the main grid. Finland could export energy on a large scale in the form of hydrogen or synthetic fuels in addition to electricity.
Fingrid will continue to work on developing the main grid, and the next step is to update the main grid development plan, which will be published in summer 2021. The development plan sets out the main grid investments that will be made over the next ten years.
Further information:
Jussi Jyrinsalo, Fingrid, tel. +358 30 395 5118
Mikko Heikkilä, Fingrid, tel. +358 30 395 5113
email: firstname.lastname@fingrid.fi
Network vision was published on 18th of January. Link to original announcement (in Finnish): Fingridin verkkovisio: Sähkösektori avainasemassa ilmastotavoitteiden saavuttamisessa – vaatii kantaverkkoon miljardiluokan investoinnit - Fingrid