A state-owned power firm in Russia said that it would begin cutting off energy to Finland on Saturday because the nation allegedly failed to make payments.
Reuters reported that there is no particular reason for the RAO Nordic division of Inter ROA to halt exporting power to Finland, citing a statement from RAO Nordic.
ACCORDING TO THE BBC, an RAO Nordic statement reads, “This has never happened before in more than twenty years of our trading experience,” according to the BBC.
At 1 a.m. local time, Finnish grid operator Fingrid reported that electrical services, which accounted for 10% of total demand in the nation, were “for the time being” halted.
Additional imports from Sweden and domestic manufacturing might be used to fill any gaps in the market, according to the business, which was cited by Reuters.
Fingrid, it appears, is not a party to the conflict.
“As far as I can tell, Nord Pool is footing the bill. This power exchange does not include Fingrid in any way. We act as a conduit for people and goods between Russia and Finland. “Fingrid’s senior vice president of operations, Reima Paivinen, confirmed this.
This mismatch in payments may be linked to Vladimir Putin’s insistence that nations pay gas prices using rubles, Russia’s official currency, rather than dollars.
Russia’s demand comes as sanctions against the country are expected to be ratcheted up by the international community.
A few weeks ago, Finnish officials declared they would no longer accept Russian rubles as payment for its gas imports.
According to Nord Pool, “we have never received settlements in rubles, only in euros, Norwegian crowns… Swedish crowns… Danish crowns, in line with our usual processes,” the ruble need has never been confirmed.
As a result of Finland’s efforts to join NATO, relations with Russia have deteriorated even more.
President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland stated that Finland wants to join NATO “as soon as possible.”
“Finland’s security would be bolstered by NATO membership. Having Finland as a member of NATO would improve NATO as a whole, “declared the heads of state.
Finland’s electrical supply is unaffected.
A subsidiary of the Russian company Inter RAO, RAO Nordic Oy, will halt imports of power to Finland at 1 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, 2022, when the 400-kilovolt interconnectors are shut off. There have been issues with payments for power supply on the market. Thus RAO Nordic says that future direct or bilateral sales of Russian electricity will be banned until further notice.
Finnish transmission system operator Fingrid maintains that the country’s electrical supply is adequate. About 10% of Finland’s total electricity needs have been met by imports from Russia in recent years.
Reima Päivinen, Senior Vice President of Power System Operations at Fingrid, said that the loss of Russian power imports would be balanced by importing more electricity from Sweden and generating more electricity in Finland.
Finland is on its way to being self-sufficient.
The ability of Finland to generate its power is continually increasing. As a result, the amount of Finnish wind power output is steadily growing. An extra 2000 megawatts of wind power will be installed this year alone. By 2023, Finland should be able to generate enough electricity to meet its own needs.
