Is there enough electricity in Finland for new data centers? One concern emerges

Monday brought new and big data center news again.

Icelander Atnorth said he was building in the new data center Saloon. According to the company, the electricity consumption of the entire project is about 230 megawatts.

Also Finnish green told more details about what was born in Pyhäjoki from the data center. According to the company, it will use no less than 1,000 megawatts of electricity after completion.

According to experts, the data centers’ hunger for electricity will not skyrocket the price of electricity, as tens of gigawatts of licensed wind power are available. The biggest concern is the efficiency of peak consumption hours and the capacity of the electricity grid.

“As long as Finland has the ability and opportunities to invest in new production, new data centers are not a cause for concern,” says a representative of large electricity consumers Finnish Electricity Users (Elfi) CEO Pasi Kuokkanen.

However, Kuokkanen is worried about one thing. There may be problems with sufficient electrical power. According to Kuokkanen, data center investments do not in themselves worsen the power problem, but the challenge of power adequacy already exists regardless of them.

“I’m worried about the sufficiency of the power during these long cold periods of frost. Finland’s regulation market and fast reserves work very well during the first few days, but the challenge is cold, windless periods lasting several days,” says Kuokkanen.

According to Kuokkanen, Pyhäjoki’s 1,000 megawatt project is exceptionally large on a Finnish scale. He calculates that on an annual basis, 1,000 megawatts of power means about eight terawatt hours of electricity, which roughly corresponds to 3,000 megawatts of wind power production.

Kuokkanen points out that in such large projects, the final starting size and implementation schedule will only become clear later. The construction of production usually requires that project developers and power producers agree on long-term power purchase agreements with the investor.

Energy industry: Fear of the price of electricity is unnecessary

Energy Industry Association electricity market leader Pekka Salomaa he is not worried about the electricity supply either. He reminds that Finland already has Finland’s renewables association according to statistics, licensed wind power 3–4 gigawatts and tens of gigawatts of wind power and solar power in various planning stages.

It is thus possible to significantly increase electricity production alongside new consumption. In addition, the projects are built in stages and do not come online all at once.

Salomaa estimates that over time, the capacity of electricity networks may begin to limit projects rather than electricity production itself. However, according to Salomaa, in the projects announced now, the network’s adequacy seems to be ensured, at least initially.

According to Salomaa, consumers or industry do not have to worry about the increase in the average price of electricity. As a whole, there is enough electricity and the price level will remain reasonable, as long as the construction of networks and new production does not start to be politically challenged.

“In the electricity futures market, the prices of the coming years will move at a very moderate level, i.e. in figures starting at six per kilowatt-hour, and prices are not expected to explode in long-term contracts. The fear of the price of electricity running away is therefore pointless,” says Salomaa.