Electricity consumption in Finland is now at its lowest point since the turn of the millennium, according to the industry association Finnish Energy (ET).
The group said on Thursday that electricity consumption has decreased by about eight percent from a year ago. The largest decrease has occurred in industry, where consumption has declined in the last four months by 11 percent compared to last year.
Some of the decrease in consumption is due to energy-saving measures implemented during last winter’s energy crisis, but it mainly reflects a decline in manufacturing, the group said.
the association noted that since late March, Finland has been generating more electricity than it needs, and thus has been a net exporter of electricity.
Swedish grid issues hamper Finnish exports
"The completion of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor and significant wind power investments have increased our electricity production so much that we have produced more electricity than we have consumed on average since March. In August, hydropower played an important role, compensating for reduced wind power production and preventing prices from getting out of control," ET managing director Jukka Leskelä said in a statement.
"When wind conditions are good, we could export even more electricity, but unfortunately central Sweden in particular cannot accept more due to chronic problems with the Swedish grid," Leskelä said.
Meanwhile, Statistics Finland said on Thursday double-counted electricity costs had led to errors in its inflation data over the past year, resulting in higher-than-actual monthly figures. Last autumn and winter, spiking electricity costs were a significant driver of overall inflation.