Eastern Finland could host a large electricity production plant, says Fingrid executive

Eastern Finland could easily accommodate a new large electricity production plant, said Jussi Jyrinsalo, director of grid planning at the Finnish transmission system operator Fingrid.

“It would fit into the gap left by the end of Russian electricity imports,” Jyrinsalo told Yle.

Before the war in Ukraine, Finland imported up to 1,300 megawatts of electricity from Russia, roughly equivalent to the output of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor. That electricity flowed through the Yllikkälä substation in Lappeenranta and the Kymi substation in Kotka, along the coast to major consumption centers in the south.

Imports ceased soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ending southeastern Finland’s role as an international feed point for the power system from the east. The region’s strong transmission connections were partially underused.

In 2021, Russia accounted for about 10 percent of Finland’s electricity supply, though its share had already been declining before the war, Jyrinsalo noted.

After imports stopped, the power lines from Yllikkälä and Kymi were connected to each other. “The Yllikkälä and Kymi substations are now linked, and the transmission line no longer loops through Russia,” Jyrinsalo said.

Currently, electricity increasingly flows from the west coast to the rest of Finland, where the largest nuclear plants and nearly all wind power are located, Jyrinsalo added. For example, the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant, with a capacity of about 1,600 megawatts, began commercial operation in Eurajoki on the west coast in 2023.

Jyrinsalo emphasized that from the grid operator’s perspective, it would be best if electricity generation were evenly distributed across the country. Long internal transmission lines can create bottlenecks in the grid.

Arto Nikkanen, CEO of Lappeenrannan Energia, agreed that in an optimal situation, electricity production and consumption are located close to each other. He said that planned industrial investments in Lappeenranta will have enough electricity even if it has to be transmitted from the west. “At the moment, this is not a major problem because Finland’s transmission grid is very strong,” Nikkanen told Yle.

For instance, Dutch company Nebius is building a massive 310-megawatt data center in Lappeenranta. In the future, however, new electricity production in eastern Finland would be beneficial, Nikkanen said, noting that wind power construction in the region is limited by defense forces’ radars, which can be disturbed by turbines.

Activity around the Yllikkälä substation is currently high, with the strong grid attracting industrial players. French company Neoen plans a data center next to the substation, and Solar Foods is planning a protein factory a few kilometers away.

Despite Finland’s strong transmission grids, Fingrid has warned that the data center boom and growing consumption are already straining grids, especially in southern Finland. Large consumption sites such as data centers almost always trigger a need to reinforce the main grid, according to Jyrinsalo. Fingrid is currently undertaking its largest-ever investment program, worth 5.2 billion euros.