Total electricity consumption in Finland dipped by six percent last year, according to preliminary data published on Monday by Statistics Finland.
The drop in demand was mainly affected by high electricity prices, which followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Figures by the Energy Authority suggested that domestic customers in Finland saw their bills inflate by 142 percent on average last year.
An unseasonably warm autumn may have also played a part in decreased demand. November 2022 saw temperatures hitting highs of around 13 degrees Celsius in some areas of Finland, a phenomenon that had only been recorded four times previously — in 1999, 2015, 2020 and 2021.
On an industrial level, electricity consumption may have also been largely affected by forestry company UPM's lengthy industrial action last year, which saw mill workers walk off the job for almost four months.
Meanwhile, production of fossil-free electricity hit a record high, according to Statistics Finland's figures. Some 75 percent of the overall electricity consumed in 2022 derived from fossil-free sources, with wind power accounting for an unprecedented 14.1 percent of total electricity consumption.
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