Finnish Grid Operator Renews Blackout Warning in New Forecast

(Bloomberg) -- Finland’s grid operator reiterated a prediction that households should brace for rolling blackouts this winter, in an updated forecast of power availability.

Fingrid Oyj, the network company, has spent the past weeks telling Finns to prepare for potential outages during cold spells, when the availability of imports is less likely. That’s as flows from Russia -- key in prior years to bridge the gap between demand and supply -- have ended following its war in Ukraine and Finland’s decision to join defense alliance NATO, and Europe’s power markets are in turmoil.

Imports from southern Sweden are particularly under threat with extended maintenance at Vattenfall AB’s Ringhals 4 that’s prompted Svenska Kraftnat to flag potential blackouts there, Fingrid said in an emailed statement on Monday. It’s also asking consumers to increasingly use power during the night rather than the peak demand hours of the morning and early evening.

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