Finland to keep Russian power exports flowing Into Nordic region

Finland won’t interfere with power flows entering the Nordic region across its border with Russia, according to the director general for energy.

While natural gas supply was the focus of an emergency meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels on Monday, parts of the Nordic and Baltic region are dependent on imports of Russian power to meet demand. Finland, which has imported Russian electricity for more than 20 years, said it would “survive” without it but would not try to impose any restriction itself. 

“Finland is not considering stopping trade of electricity with Russia,” said Riku Huttunen, Director General for Energy at the Economy Ministry of Finland, adding that the government is “not a market actor. Individual companies can make their own decisions on the issue.”

Finland imported 9 terawatt-hours of power on a net basis, or about a tenth of its demand, while Lithuania imported 1.9 terawatt-hours last year according to Fraunhofer ISE data. Finland currently has limited ability to reduce imports because the start of a fifth nuclear reactor has been delayed until March 11. The launch date for the 1,600-megawatt plant has been pushed back several times.