The European Union has placed energy security at the top of its agenda, while simultaneously aiming to significantly increase the use of renewable energy. The European Commission has set a new target: renewable energy should account for 45% of total energy consumption by 2030.
Finland already operates one of the world’s most advanced and reliable electricity networks, but the changing energy landscape requires even greater national transmission and distribution capacity. Finland’s transmission system operator Fingrid has already warned that capacity on the west coast is becoming strained. So much new wind power is being built that even ongoing investments will not be enough to keep up.
In this transformation, Finland cannot simply wait for others to cross the finish line — because we are not there yet ourselves.
Fingrid estimates the investment need for the transmission grid at around €4 billion between 2024 and 2033, an increase of €1 billion compared to last year’s estimate. While cities consume electricity, production is shifting further into remote areas, where the network often requires reinforcement.
The influx of renewable energy brings variability: at times there is excess generation, and at other times too little. To maintain balance between generation and consumption, renewable production requires balancing power. In Europe this has traditionally been provided by fossil fuels, whereas Finland has also benefited from hydropower as a flexible resource. As gas power plants are phased out, flexibility must increasingly come from other sources — consumers, industrial loads, distributed energy resources (DER) and energy storage.
Developing distribution grids is essential for multiple reasons related to efficiency, sustainability, reliability and environmental impact.
Investments in solar and wind energy are accelerating rapidly. Variable production increases the need for energy storage and new ways to stabilise the system.
Finland can emerge as a winner in the energy transition — but only if we continue investing in the resilience of our grids.
A rapid increase in solar and wind power brings many advantages, but also challenges for grid operation. When both production and consumption fluctuate independently, maintaining system balance becomes more difficult. Energy demand, renewable supply and system reliability must be aligned. This is why investment in energy storage is essential.
To maintain a stable power system, demand-side flexibility is also needed. Flexibility means adjusting or shifting electricity consumption from high-price, high-load hours to more favourable periods. Energy storage and responsive loads are key tools for balancing the system when the sun is not shining, the wind is not blowing or weather conditions change rapidly.
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