Finland to Allow Solar and BESS Projects via Single Grid Access Under New Electricity Market Reform

An agreed reform of Finland’s Electricity Market Act, set to enter into force this summer, will allow developers to connect battery energy storage systems (BESS) and solar production through a single grid access point.

This would allow for shared infrastructure and more flexible project design, Ossi Ikonen, client executive at Swedish solar developer Alight, told the Solar Power Finland conference in Helsinki late on Thursday.

He said he has seen growing interest from corporates seeking to include batteries in existing solar power purchase agreements (PPAs).

“Some corporates already using solar-only PPAs are now exploring BESS to increase upside and enhance stability,” said Ikonen. “You can use the BESS to reshape the profile of the solar plant... make the profile better for the offtaker.”

He pointed to the advantages of co-locating assets, including shared grid access, streamlined permitting and joint use of contractors and land leases.

Developers could benefit from hybrid models, he said. “The market is saturating very rapidly... today it’s more about revenue stacking.”

Miika Pilli, head of business development for Finland at French renewables developer Neoen, said developers could also offer baseload PPAs to clients by combining standalone wind, solar and BESS assets located at separate sites across the country. 

Connection capacity remains available in western Finland, although opportunities in the south are more limited due to growing congestion, said Antero Reilander, customer manager at Finnish TSO Fingrid.

To date, Fingrid has received around 30 GW worth of BESS connection inquiries, alongside 400 GW for wind and solar, far exceeding the country’s 15 GW peak consumption, he said.

The pipeline for industrial-scale solar projects is expanding. By the end of 2024, Finland’s operational industrial-scale solar capacity stood at 123 MW, nearly half of which was completed that year, according to lobby group Renewables Finland.

The data showed that currently, there are 285 industrial-scale solar developments totalling 23.3 GW in the works, with 17.5 GW undergoing permitting or environmental assessment, 42 projects (2.5 GW) fully permitted, and 19 projects (663 MW) under construction.