Cold snap leads to record electricity consumption for this winter

Freezing weather spread across Finland at the beginning of the year, causing electricity consumption to rise to record levels for the winter. Fingrid expects high consumption for the rest of the week if the temperatures remain low. The adequacy of electricity remained good, with no major disturbances in electricity production and imports. 

The new year began with temperatures clearly below the seasonal average. The cold snap caused electricity consumption to hit a new peak for this winter on Tuesday and Wednesday. The highest consumption figures in Finland exceeded 14,500 MW.  The high consumption has not caused any problems, as electricity production plants have had good availability, and the transmission connections have operated without any disturbances significantly affecting the adequacy of electricity.   

“The power system is operating normally, and the adequacy of electrical power looks good. However, it is important for electricity users to contribute to demand-side management by timing their consumption outside the morning and early evening peaks if possible,” says Tuomas Rauhala, Senior Vice President at Fingrid.

In the autumn, Fingrid published an assessment of the power available this winter, estimating electricity consumption of 14,300 MW on a very cold day with little wind. However, the current situation differs significantly from the forecast: temperatures are lower than forecasted, and blustery weather is increasing the wind power output in addition to the wind-chill factor. Wind power production has been higher than in the forecasted low-wind situation. Naturally, this has affected the price of electricity and, consequently, the amount of demand-side management activated in response to high prices.

According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the cold snap will continue in Finland this week. Fingrid expects a prolonged period of freezing temperatures to keep electricity consumption high, perhaps raising it to 15,000 MW towards the end of the week. However, thanks to the high availability of cross-border connections and production plants, the adequacy of electricity is expected to remain good. The Estlink 1 transmission connection between Estonia and Finland developed a fault late on Tuesday evening. Fault repair work is underway at the Espoo substation and is due to be completed on Thursday 4 January.  The Estlink 1 fault is not currently affecting the adequacy of electricity in Finland.

Further information:

Tuomas Rauhala, Senior Vice President, Fingrid Oyj, tel. +358 40 506 4695
Email addresses are in the form firstname.lastname@fingrid.fi