National report on electricity and natural gas markets in 2023 published
The Energy Authority has published the national report on the operation and oversight of the electricity and natural gas markets in Finland in 2023. In the report, you will find key figures of the Finnish energy markets and a summary of the impact of the Energy Authority's activities.
The annual report of the Energy Authority provides an overview of the electricity and gas markets and the security of supply in Finland in 2023. The report, which is submitted to the European Commission, comprehensively reviews the Energy Authority's supervision and market monitoring tasks and their results.
The energy crisis started in autumn 2021 calmed down in 2023. Increased wind power generation capacity and the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant, which was commissioned last year April, have improved electricity self-sufficiency. Last year, Finland became a net exporter of electricity on a weekly basis for the first time. The share of net imports dropped to 2.2 percent of Finland's electricity consumption. The improved production situation also meant that spot prices in Finland were more frequently the same as in Northern or Central Sweden compared to the previous year.
The gas markets continued to be subject to significant changes. The gas markets were impacted by the arrival of the floating LNG terminal in Inkoo at the beginning of last year, which provided an alternative gas supply route to the Balticconnector pipeline connection between Finland and Estonia. Additionally, the Balticconnector pipeline was damaged last October, resulting in Finland's gas imports relying entirely on LNG imports until the end of April.
Due to the improved European and Nordic market situation, the average electricity and gas prices decreased in the spring of 2023. However, retail electricity prices have remained slightly higher than before the energy crisis, and price volatility has even increased.
Households adapting to price volatility
On the retail electricity market, the consequences of the energy crisis have been particularly evident in the rapid increase in the number of dynamic electricity price contracts and households' own electricity generation. In 2023, the number of households that made agreements with their DSO’s for partial self-generation grew by nearly 50 percent. In addition to high electricity prices, the decreased costs of the solar panels have encouraged consumers to generate their own electricity.
At the end of 2023, 31 percent of households had a dynamic electricity price contract. This number has grown rapidly each year, as in 2020, only 8 percent of consumer customers had a dynamic electricity price contract. At the end of last year, 45 percent of consumer customers had a fixed-term electricity contract, and 24 percent had an open-ended contract.
Each year, 15-16 percent of households have changed their electricity supplier, with no significant annual variations in switching activity. Last year, the proportion of those who changed their supplier slightly decreased to 15.1 percent, equating to about 492,000 households.
Last year, the Energy Authority was particularly engaged in the development work for common European electricity markets, preparation of the new methodologies for economic regulation of electricity and gas system operators and retroactive reimbursement to consumers for high electricity costs.
The report has been submitted to the Agency for the Co-operation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and to the European Commission.
Further information: Analyst Markus Nora, tel. +358 29 5050 046 and Deputy Director General Antti Paananen, tel. +358 29 5050 013. Emails: [email protected].
National report on electricity and natural gas markets in 2023 (pdf)
