Electricity contracts
Negotiations with the system operator
The system operator is obliged to connect to the network a renewable electricity producer whose plant meets the technical requirements of the network. The matter of connecting to the network must be negotiated with the system operator as early as possible. It is only possible to connect relatively small wind farms to the distribution network; the technical requirements of larger wind farms are higher and they must be connected directly to the regional network or the main grid.
Wind farms of over 250 MW are always connected to the main grid with a voltage of 400 kV. Wind farms of 100–250 MW are also often connected to the high-voltage network due to the technical aspects of the network. Wind farms of under 100 MW can be connected to a 110-kV network as long as the sufficiency of the network has been verified. Fingrid is responsible for the main grid and carries out the necessary network examinations in the main grid together with the project responsible party.
Clear instructions with regard to connecting to the grid of the main grid company Fingrid are available through this link.
Costs of connecting to the grid
According to Finnish legislation, a new electricity producer with a production plant of over 2 MW must meet the costs of strengthening the grid where it is necessary to strengthen the grid only for the sake of the production plant in question. The connection costs of the main grid company Fingrid are available on its website.
The time schedule for strengthening and joining the grid may currently be surprisingly long due to the high number of wind power projects and the grid capacity that may be limited in places. This is another reason why it is worth discussing with the system operator in good time and having regular contact with regard to the time schedules of the project. The latest situation of the main grid can also be viewed in Fingrid’s Grid Scope map.
Sale of produced electricity
The wind power company can sell all the electricity it produces to the electricity market, to its owner companies at cost (so-called Mankala principle) or, for example, to a major electricity user with a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). In all of the above procedures, a company specialised in balancing services is used as a rule.
On the other hand, every power plant of more than one megavolt-amperes is obliged to carry out imbalance settlement to Fingrid. Guarantees of origin of electricity, granted for certified wind power production, can be sold on the market.
Sources:
Fingrid