Finland. Pohjois-Karjalan Sähkö Oy
| Date of agreement: | 24 Sep 2024 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Finland |
| Customer: | Pohjois-Karjalan Sähkö Oy |
| Amount in EUR: | EUR 40 million |
| Maturity: | 12 years |
| NACE sector / loan type: | Electricity, gas, steam and hot water supply |
Project
The loan has been provided for Pohjois-Karjalan Sähkö Oy for investments in the power distribution network in Eastern Finland. These investments include installing and maintaining underground cables, building new overhead lines, and constructing and upgrading substations.
Between 2024 and 2027, the company is set to invest in new smart meters that will help them adapt to the 15-minute imbalance settlement period introduced in Finland in March 2023. This update changed the calculation interval of the difference between energy supply and demand from hourly to 15 minutes. This helps stabilise the energy market.
This is the second loan agreement signed between NIB and Pohjois-Karjalan Sähkö Oy.
Fulfilment of NIB's mandate
Productivity:
The current length of the company’s power network is over 22,000 km, which is one of the longest networks in Finland. In 2022, the company’s client portfolio included 75,000 households and 10,000 businesses. Investments in cabling and other weatherproofing measures will significantly improve the security of supply in the company’s network. The new smart meters will aid Pohjois-Karjalan Sähkö in improving the efficiency of the European Transmission System Operators’ (TSOs) operations.
Environment:
The company’s electricity grid expenditures are related to investments in the electricity network’s security of supply. These investments will contribute to increasing the capacity of the electricity network. This will ensure that the grid can support decentralised energy generation tools like solar panels. The grid can thus also support the increased need for EV charging. The project is eligible for NIB Environmental Bonds.
Impact indicators in relation to the investments:
- Capex, EUR million
- Cabling rate in low voltage networks, %
- Cabling rate of low- and medium-voltage networks, %
