Finland’s grid operator renews power outage warning

LONDON

Households in Finland should prepare for power outages this winter, the country’s grid operator said on Monday.

As a result of “great uncertainties, people in Finland should be prepared for power outages caused by possible electricity shortages this coming winter,” Fingrid Oyj said in an updated forecast of power availability.

In the previous forecast in August, Fingrid Oyj said: “The war in Europe and the exceptional situation on the energy market have increased uncertainties related to the availability of electricity."

Last week, Finnish utility Fortum confirmed that in October, it will reactivate an idle coal-fired power plant on Finland's west coast which will boost energy capacity by 560 megawatts.

Fingrid Oyj has estimated that the country will need to import 2,200 MW to cover an estimated consumption of 15,100 MW.

Finland was briefly forced to rely on two backup power plants at the beginning of September.