Policies in Finland

In Finland, the use of the grids for the transmission of electricity from renewable sources is regulated by the general legislation on energy (Act 588/2013). There are no special provisions for electricity from renewable sources.
A plant operator is contractually entitled to connection to the use of the grid against the grid operator. The grid operator is obliged to grant access to the grid according to non-discriminatory criteria until the grid is used to full capacity.

Plant operators are contractually entitled against the grid operator to connection to the grid. The grid operator is obliged to enter into an agreement with a plant operator following the non-discriminatory principle in regards to other plant operators. Detailed provisions regarding the connection of a particular plant are specified in a connection agreement. The operators of plants whose capacity exceeds 2 MW have to bear part of the costs of the connection works.

The system operator shall sell electricity transmission and distribution services to those who need them (Art 21 Act 588/2013). This includes every plant operator whose plant has been connected to the grid and who requires grid capacity.
The party obliged to grant connection to the grid is the licensed grid operator whose area the plant is situated in. The grid operator's area of operation is determined by his licence (Art 9 Act 588/2013).

The grid operator shall expand his grid according to the reasonable needs of his customers without discriminating against certain plant operators.

• Ministry of Emploment and Economy
• Energy Authority
• Fingrid

Number of DSOs: 77
Number of legally unbundled DSOs: 9
Source: 2020 DSO facts and figures Eurelectric; Distribution System Operator Observatory 2020

97.3%
Source: 2020 DSO facts and figures Eurelectric

Total number of active electricity nationwide suppliers: 54
Switching rates for electricity household customers in 2018: 11.1%
Source: Monitoring Report on the Performance of European Retail Markets in 2018. CEER Report

There are no specific laws regulating the heating and cooling grids in Finland. The approach to the heating grid is market-oriented; in principle, heat providers are in competition with each other. Nevertheless, there is usually only one district heat operator in a city or a municipality. In 2019, district heating supplied heat for 53% of Finnish households. Some of the district heating operators are fully or partly owned by the municipality whereas others are private actors. If there is only one district heating supplier operating in the area, the consumers cannot choose between different suppliers but they can choose to heat their residence with another form of heating. Especially detached house owners tend to opt for electric heating or having their own boilers/heat pumps installed.
Although there is no specific legislation applying to district heating, district heating companies are subject to general legislation, such as competition and consumer protection legislation, and regulated by related authorities, such as the Energy Authority or the Finnish Competition Authority.

Grid connection is a bilateral agreement between the generator owner and the DSO, and it is not regulated by any specific legislation.

The grid operates under the non-discrimination criteria.

Energiavirasto