‘We will need each other’: Nordics won't unplug from EU power grid, Helsinki says

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Nordic countries will all remain connected to Europe’s huge electricity grid, Finnish Environment and Energy Minister Sari Multala told Euractiv, seeking to dampen concerns that years of market integration could be reversed as Norway and Sweden blame mainland demand for pushing up prices.

The Nordics have for years enjoyed some of the cheapest and cleanest electricity in the world. But with mainland Europe plagued by power shortages exacerbated by inadequate cross-border power lines and badly demarcated pricing zones, European demand for the Nordic countries’ abundant hydropower has grown, driving up prices at home.

In response, Sweden has paused construction of new high-voltage links to Germany and Denmark, while Norway has signalled it is undecided on whether to extend the operation of old cross-border cables linking it to Denmark.

A real electrical divorce would threaten 100 terawatt-hours of electricity trade with mainland Europe, more than Austria consumes in a year. But Multala believes talk of the end of European market integration, or a divorce between the Nordics and the mainland, is overblown.

ource: Wikipedia