Opening up of Finland’s gas market to change energy sector
Gasum says the first day of 2020 will see the Finnish pipeline gas market open up to competition and the transmission and wholesale of gas will be unbundled from each other. In the same context, the transmission network will be unbundled from Gasum into a separate company. This will make it possible for other actors within the gas grid area to import and sell gas through the transmission network. The turn of the year will also see completion of the new Balticconnector pipeline, which will link the Finnish and Estonian gas grids.
Following many years of preparation, reform of the Finnish gas market will culminate at 7am on January 1, 2020, when the Finnish pipeline gas market opens up to competition. Reform was preceded by the new Natural Gas Act, which entered into force in 2018, and several years of extensive cooperation with Gasum and other actors in the sector.
In practice, the reform taking place at the turn of the year means that the gas transmission network will be unbundled from Gasum into a separate company. At the same time, the import and wholesale of natural gas will be possible for other actors. The turn of the year will also see completion of the new Balticconnector transmission pipeline, which will connect Finland’s gas grid not just to the Russian but also to the Estonian grid.
“The reform is an important matter, both symbolically and in practice. Greater competition will allow customers to buy their gas more flexibly than earlier. Gas traders will in turn be able to develop increasingly better products for customer needs. Gasum has the advantage of decades of experience and competence in the gas and energy sector. I certainly see this primarily as an opportunity to further develop our services while developing our company as a Nordic energy sector expert,” says Gasum CEO Johanna Lamminen.
Security of supply and reliability are very important in an open gas market, where efficiency, innovation and responsibility determine success in open competition.
Gasum will continue to be the gas transmission system operator with system responsibility until the end of 2019. From the beginning of 2020, the transmission business will be unbundled from Gasum into a separate company, Gasgrid Finland, which will start operating on January 1, 2020.
The energy company Gasum is a Nordic gas sector and energymarket expert. Together with its partners, Gasum is building a bridge towards a carbon-neutral society on land and at sea.
