Maintenance and construction work will limit electricity transmission capacity between Sweden and Finland in the summer

Work to improve the reliability and operational safety of the cross-border transmission connection will be carried out on transmission lines in northern Sweden in early summer, which is why part of the cross-border electricity transmission connection between Finland and Sweden will be out of service. During the limitation period, the transmission capacity of the connection from Finland to Sweden will be 300 megawatts (usually 1100 megawatts) and the transmission capacity of the connection from Sweden to Finland will be 200 megawatts (usually 1200 megawatts). The estimated duration of the interruptions is just over three weeks.

A similar restriction will be repeated in July and August, when the construction work of the Aurora Line transmission line will continue with an interruption of approximately four weeks. The Aurora Line is a new cross-border transmission connection implemented jointly by Fingrid and Svenska kraftnät, which, when completed in 2025, will significantly increase transmission capacity between Finland and Sweden. The Aurora Line transmission line is 380 kilometres long and runs from the Pyhänselkä substation in Muhos all the way to Messaure in Sweden.

The construction of the first phase of the Aurora Line began in autumn 2022 in Finland. In addition to increasing transmission capacity, Aurora Line will improve the security of electricity supply and the resilience of the electricity system not only in Finland and Sweden, but also more widely in the entire Baltic Sea region.

Restrictions on cross-border transmission connections increase sensitivity to fluctuations in electricity prices

During border capacity limitations, sensitivity to fluctuations in electricity prices increases. In particular, price fluctuations may be greater than usual in situations where there are simultaneously several influencing factors, such as low or high wind power production, disturbances in power plants or disturbances in other transmission connections.

In addition, there will be several outages in Ostrobothnia during the summer because of construction work strengthening the main grid , during which the maximum production of wind power will have to be limited regionally by a maximum of 2,000 megawatts due to system security.

"Cross-border transmission connections to Sweden and Estonia are very important for the functioning of the electricity market and the system security of the Finnish electricity system. At the moment, the main grid is being built at a rapid pace in Finland and Sweden, which also causes restrictions and interruptions in electricity transmission. Fingrid and Svenska kraftnät work closely together on both sides of the border to ensure that necessary outages cause as little inconvenience as possible," says Tuomas Rauhala, Director of Power System Operations at Fingrid.

Additional information:

Senior Advisor Timo Kaukonen, phone +358 40 545 2124

Unit Manager Mikko Piironen, phone +358 50 599 0141

Email addresses are in the format etunimi.sukunimi@fingrid.fi