- Finland's renewable power strategy is paying off as its energy has fallen into negative prices.
- A new nuclear reactor, as well as unexpected floods, are leading to a glut of clean energy.
- It is a striking reversal from last year, when Finns slashed their usage after cutting ties with Russia.
Finland is currently dealing with an unusual problem: clean electricity so abundant that it sent energy prices negative on Wednesday.
While much of the rest of Europe is dealing with an energy crisis, the Nordic country reported its spot energy prices dropping below zero before noon.
This meant that the average energy price for the day was "slightly" below zero, Jukka Ruusunen, CEO of Finland's grid operator Fingrid, told the Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
The price drop was driven by an unexpected glut of renewable energy, coupled with Finns themselves using less energy in the wake of the crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Now there is enough electricity, and it is almost emission-free. So you can feel good about using electricity," Ruusunen told Finns, per Yle.
Finland went from energy poverty to glut in just a few months
The news is a remarkable turnaround for a country that last winter was telling its people to watch their energy consumption.
"Last winter, the only thing people could talk about was where to get more electricity. Now we are thinking hard about how to limit production. We have gone from one extreme to another," Ruusunen told Yle.
The country was facing an energy crisis after it banned energy imports from its neighbor Russia as part of the global backlash after it invaded Ukraine.
But a new nuclear reactor, brought online in April this year, provided a significant new stream of power for Finland's population of around 5.5 million.
Olkiluoto 3, the first new nuclear reactor to be opened in Europe in over 15 years, brought the price of electricity in Finland down by 75%, from €245.98 per megawatt-hour in December to €60.55 per MWh in April, per Emirati newspaper The National.
The country, which aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2035, has also been pushing hard to introduce renewable energy solutions — Finland wants wind to be its primary power source by 2027, Ruusunen told The National.
This is also contributing to the drop in energy prices. Excessive meltwater, causing flood warnings in several northern European countries, is pushing Finland's hydroelectric plants into overdrive and giving plentiful electricity.
"During spring floods, there is often this kind of forced production, because production cannot be slowed down. Due to the huge amount of water, hydropower often has a poor capacity to regulate in spring," Ruusunen noted.
Finland is now dealing with energy prices being too low
Finland is now dealing with the opposite problem of poor energy supply: energy operators may no longer be able to operate normally if the electricity is worth less than the cost of producing it.
"Production that is not profitable at these prices is usually removed from the market," Ruusunen said.
Because hydropower cannot be slowed down or turned off, other producers like nuclear are looking to dial back their production to avoid losing money on energy production.
Ruusunen said that in this context, Finns can happily use all the energy they want.