Finns left out in the cold as Scandinavians press ahead with power deal

[Tennis]

OSLO (Reuters) - Denmark, Norway and Sweden are pressing ahead with plans for a new system to balance electricity supply and demand in the region, leaving out Finland after negotiations with their neighbor broke down.

Finland and the three Scandinavian countries trade power on the Nordic power market but, when there is an imbalance between booked supply and demand, the grids must currently agree unanimously how to smooth out the flows.

Earlier this year, Scandinavian grid operators proposed taking decisions by majority vote, a change they say will ensure the future reliability of supply as demand grows.

Finland opposed the idea, saying it is illegal under European Union rules. Five months of negotiations failed to find a solution.

Stripped of a veto, Finland is concerned it may have no say on who produces the balancing power, possibly favoring Scandinavian power plants, as Finnish ones tend to be costlier.

If the Scandinavian plan wins EU approval, it could make it more difficult for Finland to deal with short-term fluctuations in demand.

The Swedish grid operator announced the decision on Tuesday to press ahead without Finland.

“In the new Scandinavian balancing model... Svenska Kraftnat and (Norwegian grid operator) Statnett will maintain the current coordinating role for operation of the power system,” Svenska Kraftnat said in a statement.

“We regret that Fingrid has decided not to join the new cooperation... the Scandinavian TSOs (transmission system operators) aim for collaboration, not isolation,” it added.

Fingrid will submit its own proposal that suggests keeping the current Nordic system unchanged for some time, its senior vice president Asta Sihvonen-Punkka told Reuters on Tuesday.

Finland imports up to a fifth of its electricity consumption at times of peak winter demand, and being alone could create uncertainty for its security of power supply, crucial for its energy-hungry industrial sector.

To make matters worse, Finland will soon see many of its combined heat and power plants, that produce about one third of its electricity and shielded the country from blackouts during cold winters, reaching their end of life.

Having two competing proposals means Nordic regulators will not be able to decide on the matter and will have to escalate the decision to the European Union’s Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), which would act as mediator.

If that fails, it could ask for the European Commission’s help to break the deadlock.

The deadline for making a common single proposal between the Nordic grid operators is Jan. 14 and Fingrid hopes there might still be room for a deal before then.

“It is still possible to find a way in the meanwhile, our proposal is a starting point, we are ready to explore other options,” said Sihvonen-Punkka.

If the Scandinavian bloc’s proposal prevails, Fingrid will still seek some form of international cooperation to balance its power, she added. “We will not be isolated. There will be contracts and agreements.”

Finland seems like the odd one out in the region for some reason. There should be a greater focus on cooperating with other Scandinavian countries and less on military drills and Russian fearmongering.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-n...-idUSKBN1DS1Q6

[Baelic]

What military drills and fearmongering? I thought that was the jam of the United States...

[Rageadon]

Well, Finland is not a scandinavian country ....

[Stelio Kontos]

Well, Finland is not a scandinavian country ....

You speak as if you expect Tennis to know anything about the world outside Canada.

[callipygoustp]

What Russian fearmongering?

[Allybeboba]

You mean an European country has to depend on another country for something as basic as affordable electric power? Gasp!!

[Santti]

You speak as if you expect Tennis to know anything about the world outside Canada.

I say this as a Finn, but it's an easy mistake to make, if you are not familiar with the area. Just google Scandinavian countries, and you often get the whole Nordic package.

[Corroc]

The nordic countries aren't really that tightly knitted as people think they are. The values are pretty much the same but that's it.

[Lahis]

Well, Finland is not a scandinavian country ....

But Finland is currently part of the synchronized Nordic electricity network.

[Deleted]

The nordic countries aren't really that tightly knitted as people think they are. The values are pretty much the same but that's it.

Especially not Finland. They are like the slow cousin nobody understands.

[Deleted]

It's funny how Tennistroll gets to make flamebait threads about other countries, especially Finland - which is weird, since he has absolutely nothing to do with Finland, and thus shouldn't give two shits about Finland, except of course the fact that I keep pointing out his horrible, despicable, hateful fatshaming ways, and I'm Finnish - but if someone were to make a thread about some random issue that's gone horribly wrong in Canada, the thread would immediately get locked with the line "don't make pointless threads" or something, and the poster would probably get infracted. Hell, pointing out this might just get me infracted.

Could it be because there's a Canadian moderator here, or could it be because Tennisace is an alt account of one of the moderators? I wonder.

[Azadina]

It's funny how Tennistroll gets to make flamebait threads about other countries, especially Finland - which is weird, since he has absolutely nothing to do with Finland, and thus shouldn't give two shits about Finland, except of course the fact that I keep pointing out his horrible, despicable, hateful fatshaming ways, and I'm Finnish - but if someone were to make a thread about some random issue that's gone horribly wrong in Canada, the thread would immediately get locked with the line "don't make pointless threads" or something, and the poster would probably get infracted. Hell, pointing out this might just get me infracted.

Could it be because there's a Canadian moderator here, or could it be because Tennisace is an alt account of one of the moderators? I wonder.

Not to worry, you're not the only one that has gained his "wrath". More than once I've called out his BS, especially when he talks of women. I still remember the gem of him saying that he's better qualified to talk of what women want, than actual women. And he hasn't changed.

[Shibito]

The nordic countries aren't really that tightly knitted as people think they are. The values are pretty much the same but that's it.

Indeed we arent, well Norway and Denmark is closer than Norway and Sweden sure we shop for cheap food and booze in sweden but their politics really scare us.

[LMuhlen]

Poor Finland, only because their electricity plants are more expensive to operate, the mean operators would choose someone else to produce electricity... How unfair.

[Techno-Druid]

I say this as a Finn, but it's an easy mistake to make, if you are not familiar with the area. Just google Scandinavian countries, and you often get the whole Nordic package.

Just to clarify for @Tennis

Nordic = Denmark (+Greenland, Faroe Islands), Sweden, Norway (+Svalbard), Finland

Scandinavian - Norway, Denmark, Sweden

Scandinavians speak languages in the Northern Germanic family, while Finns speak Finnish, which is a Finno-Ugric language related to Hungarian, Estonian and a few Siberian languages.

[Deleted]

I am going to close this here. Starting a thread on a premise like that ("and less on military drills and Russian fearmongering") isn't much more than an attempt to take a dig at Finland from the get-go. They can handle things the way they want.