Power shortages and their impacts | Vantaan Energia Sähköverkot

Shortage of electricity

An electricity shortage occurs when electricity production and imports are not enough to cover electricity consumption of the country. In that case, it will be necessary to limit consumption for a moment. In Finland Fingrid manages and coordinates restricting of electricity consumption during a power shortage until the situation is over. In the event of a shortage of electricity, Fingrid will inform the local distribution network companies of the total amount of power to be disconnected from each distribution network company’s area. Power outages would be carried out by rotating them in different parts of Finland. In Vantaa, we at Vantaa Energy Electricity Networks would disconnect the necessary amount of power from the network. For customers, this would mean short power cuts lasting a maximum of two hours.

Even in a situation of power shortages, critical areas such as the healthcare services, fire and rescue, and critical infrastructure such as heating, are not included in the power cuts.

What does a power cut mean for an ordinary Vantaa resident?

For households, electricity shortage would mean power cuts lasting a maximum of two hours at a time. Under normal circumstances, electricity demand is at its highest on weekday mornings between 8am and 10am at the start of a new working day, and after the working hours between 5pm and 7pm when people return home. In the event of a shortage of electricity, the measures to limit electricity consumption must be focused on these hours of highest consumption when electricity production and imports cannot meet electricity consumption needs. The risk of power shortages is highest between December and March.

The duration of a power cut is planned so that it will not cause damage to property, but there will definitely be some annoyance and inconvenience caused. In situations of more minor rationing of electricity, one power cut per household may be enough. In longer-lasting situations of restricting power supplies, there may be several power cuts, but the electricity will come back on for at least three hours between outages. Efforts will be made to avoid electricity distribution outages for consumers for as long as possible, and consumers will only have their power disconnected once every other remedy has been used.

It is advisable to be prepared for power cuts, but due to their relatively short duration they will hinder everyday tasks only for a short period. You will get through an outage of a few hours by preparing just a few snacks. Due to the short duration of the outage, e.g. homes will not turn cold or food in the freezer will not defrost.

Questions and answers about electricity shortages

Finland’s transmission system operator Fingrid has gathered a wide question and aswer pattern about the electricity shortages. Read the pattern to get to know more.