An all-time electricity price spike of 2.35 euros per kilowatt-hour (including VAT), set to be seen between 7pm to 8pm on Friday, is likely to be the highest on record for at least the time being.
According to price data from the Nordic power exchange NordPool, the price of electricity in Finland on Saturday will fall sharply from Friday's unprecedented levels.
The peak spot price of electricity on Saturday will be around 37 cents per kilowatt-hour (including VAT), between 5 and 6 pm. Otherwise, prices will fluctuate during the day on both sides of 20 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The skyrocketing electricity prices are largely due to severe freezing temperatures thoughout the country this week. In the early hours of Friday, Finland's coldest temperature of the current century, -44.3 degrees Celsius was recorded in Enontekiö, northwest Finnish Lapland, and the whole country has been experiencing temperatures in the double digits below freezing.
Unusually cold temperatures are forecast to continue through the weekend in most parts of the country. The electricity grid operator Fingrid has urged the public to curb electricity consumption over the weekend, with temperatures expected to rise considerably from Monday.
Some power plants offline
In addition to freezing temperatures, the spot price of electricity has been affected by a dip in supply due to problems at several Finnish power plants. Plants have been either offline or generating below regular capacity at sites including Seinäjoki, Äänekoski, Vaskiluoto in Vaasa, Vuosaari in Helsinki, Suomenoja in Espoo, Kemi and Meri-Pori.
In total, missing domestic power generation capacity amounted to about 1,600 megawatts.
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