The price of electricity in Finland on Monday will hit highs of 68 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). The cost will fluctuate significantly throughout the day, spiking around 8am and later in the evening at about 7pm.
The impact of recent disruptions to Finland's electricity production and supply is now being reflected in prices.
In addition to the suspension of electricity production at the Olkiluoto 2 nuclear power plant and the restrictions on transmission between Finland and Sweden, annual mandatory maintenance began at the Loviisa nuclear plant on Sunday, putting it out of full action.
The settled weather conditions of the past week have also meant less wind-generated power.
"Monday's situation is certainly the worst so far. I don't want to, and I can't really predict prices, but this week will probably be a difficult one unless the wind picks up," Jukka Leskelä, CEO of Finnish Energy, told Yle.
Historically high prices
Leskelä noted that the average price of electricity on Monday is almost the same as the average for August last year.
"In that sense, we are at very high prices, historically speaking," he said.
However, he added that he does not believe these prices will have a major impact on consumer and social costs.
"Fortunately, we know what has caused this situation and those reasons are temporary. The period of very high prices will hopefully be relatively short-lived and with such large price fluctuations within a day, many customers will probably have the opportunity to avoid the highest prices or at least reduce their consumption," Leskelä said, adding that the price spikes will fall between 9am and 7pm.
"If you absolutely have to go to an electric sauna on Monday, it's probably worth checking every hour to see when you should go," he said.
No impact on fixed-term contracts
The spot price fluctuation will not, in Leskelä's view, have any effect on fixed-term electricity contracts.
"But while some have wondered why fixed-term contract prices seem to be somewhat higher than next winter's derivative prices, it is precisely because of situations like this. It's quite possible that we'll see such periods of high prices in the winter too, when it's very cold or there is heavy consumption or low wind activity," he said.
Disruptions to Finland's electricity transmission and production are expected to continue for the rest of August and into the first half of September, but Leskelä said he believes the worst will soon be over.
"The situation for electricity imports will ease a little towards the end of the week, and wind forecasts show that the wind will pick up a little during the week too," he said.
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