On Monday morning, Finland was forced to rely on imported electricity from Sweden and Norway’s hydropower after a fault was detected in the turbine plant at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The estimated time for the fault to be resolved is Wednesday at 1 am, with production gradually resuming afterward. The fault came unexpectedly, as the plant had been operating without issues until then. It is still unclear when production will resume, as it depends on the nature of the fault and the repair estimate.
The Olkiluoto nuclear power plant plays a crucial role in regulating electricity prices in Finland. With no support for wind power during an intensifying frost, this fault is expected to lead to an increase in spot prices. Hourly prices for Tuesday’s stock electricity will be determined at 2 pm.
Pekka Salomaa, director responsible for energy market at Energy Industry Association, expects that the outage of OL3 will cause an increase in electricity prices. As a result of this interruption, Finland has become more dependent on imported electricity from neighboring countries.