Finland plans to start exporting electricity to Russia from the start of next year, its grid operator said, after a change in the Russian market has made its prices more expensive and Finnish prices more competitive.
Russia introduced a capacity market in 2011, which rewards producers for keeping plants available for times when they are needed.
With the cost of capacity payments in addition to energy prices, Russian electricity has become too expensive to sell in Finland at peak times, opening up market possibilities for Finnish power.
"From Jan. 1 we will start a two-way trade between Finland and Russia. There will be 350 megawatts of capacity available for exports," Risto Lindroos, a corporate adviser at Fingrid, said Wednesday.
