A clear premium is charged for green electricity

The green one that is, the prices of electricity produced with renewable energy sources vary enormously. HS collected green electricity price data on Thursday, October 10, from the electricity companies’ own websites and the Energy Agency’s comparison service.

The cheapest exchange-traded renewable electricity is available with a margin of 0.56 cents per kilowatt hour. The most expensive margin was almost triple, or 1.57 cents per kilowatt hour.

Electricity companies add a margin to the hourly market price of stock exchange electricity.

The cheapest the price can be found at North Karelia PKS. The company takes a margin of only 0.1 cents higher for green electricity than for regular stock exchange electricity, whose margin is 0.46 cents for the company.

At most of the electricity companies in HS’s comparison, the additional price of green electricity is around 0.4 cents compared to the basic exchange electricity they offer.

The margins for basic exchange electricity also vary between companies.

Prices the comparison has not been made easy, but the pricing models are variegated. For example, the additional price of green electricity in Väre is monthly.

In a single-family house with electric heating, which consumes about 18,750 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, the additional price would be 18.22 euros per month, according to Väre’s website.

Calculated according to kilowatts, the additional price will be as much as 1.16 cents per kilowatt hour. Together with the margin of 0.38 cents for standard stock exchange electricity, the total margin for green electricity would be no less than 1.54 cents per kilowatt hour for an electric heater.

Home furnishings would pay a margin of 289 euros per year for green electricity in Väre. With PKS, the price would be only 105 euros.

In addition to the margin, the consumer pays the market price of electricity on the exchange, a basic fee of a few euros and a transfer fee to the network company, including taxes. The exchange price has averaged six cents per kilowatt hour this year, when value added tax is included.

Consumers can buy electricity from any company operating in Finland. The supplier of the exchange electricity contract can be changed with two weeks’ notice.

In addition to a higher margin, Fortum charges an additional basic fee every month for renewable electricity.

The green one electricity surcharges are overall very high compared to the additional price of “greenness” on the market. All electricity flowing through the network is the same.

That’s why the origin of the electricity is proven with certificates of origin that are sold separately. When the electricity company sells renewable electricity, it has to buy and cancel a corresponding amount of guarantees of origin.

The price of guarantees of origin for renewable production has been low recently, less than 0.1 cents per kilowatt-hour tax-free. Only the pricing of PKS therefore corresponds to the market price. All other companies charge a hefty premium for green electricity.

The cheap price is due to the fact that huge amounts of wind and solar power have been built in the Nordic countries and other parts of Europe. In addition, Norway sells the guarantees of origin of its old hydropower to the market.

In temporary ones in the contracts, the price of greenery is baked into the kilowatt-hour price. The cheapest two-year fixed prices are just over nine cents per kilowatt hour, while basic electricity is available for less than nine cents.

Renewable electricity means that it has been produced by hydro, solar or wind power or by burning biomass.

Companies were selected for the comparison partly according to price level, size and reputation. The comparison is not comprehensive.