Finland’s dependence on natural gas among lowest in Europe

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Of the European Union countries, Finland is the third least dependent on natural gas. On average, natural gas accounts for some 24.5 per cent of the primary or total energy needs in the EU, but at only 11% Finland’s figure is significantly lower than this. Proportionately, only Greece and Sweden use even less natural gas than Finland.
      Gasum, the company that imports natural gas into Finland from Russia, announced on Wednesday that last year it sold 45 terawatt-hours of natural gas in Finland, which translates to an increase of 3.6 percent compared to 2007.
     
Despite the warm winter last year, the use of natural gas grew in communities’ electricity production. This was a direct consequence of the increased price of electricity in the Nordic market. Towards the end of the year, the cheapening of electricity again reduced the need to use gas in producing electricity.
      All in all, the combined production of electricity and heat for communities and Finnish industry is the area where natural gas is most used as a raw material. Heating plants included, this covers around 75% of the imported natural gas.
      As natural gas cannot be stored in Finland owing to the lack of natural repositories, the law requires that users store alternative fuels.
     
In power plants and industrial establishments, the alternative fuel is either light or heavy heating oil. According to law, such fuels have to be in store equivalent to three months’ consumption.
     
The dispute between Ukraine and the Russian Federation over natural gas shipments through a Ukrainian pipelline has brought many EU members and other countries in south-eastern Europe to the verge of crisis.
      Bulgaria, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary are all seriously affected by the current shutdown, and matters have only been exacerbated by the cold weather sweeping across the continent of late.
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russia-Ukraine gas conflict could boost Nord Stream gas pipeline project (7.1.2009)

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