Fingrid has signed a EU100-million (US$113.2-million) loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support rehabilitation and development of the Finnish electricity transmission network.
The EIB financing will support Fingrid’s investment program to bolster the transmission network that covers all of Finland. The addition of a line to the north-south interconnector will enable new wind energy — planned in the north of the country — to reach load centers in the south. Infrastructure at the end of its life would be replaced with more efficient and modern equipment suited to current consumption volumes.
Fingrid’s investment program will also support the implementation of a centralized information exchange system (data hub) for the electricity retail market. The hub will collect and maintain data from 3.5 million electricity metering points in Finland. The information can then be used by some 100 electricity suppliers and over 80 distribution network companies.
“As shown by recent investments, the Finnish energy sector is high on the EIB’s agenda,” said EIB vice president Alexander Stubb. “Whether it’s about future proofing networks or adapting them to extreme weather conditions, this is the kind of large infrastructure that the EIB has been financing for decades. The simple fact that our electricity consumption continues to increase means that we must make sure that our networks can handle that. I’m happy that Fingrid is thinking ahead also for the integration of more renewable energy into the grid, something we wholeheartedly support.”
“These investments enable the transformation of the electricity system to accommodate increasing amounts of renewable energy and facilitate electricity-market information exchange by bringing consumers to the center of the electricity markets,” said Jukka Ruusunen, the president and CEO of Fingrid.