Finnish gas market opening up - what's going to change?

The Finnish market for pipeline gas will be opened up at the start of 2020. What will this change actually mean?

The turn of the year will bring major changes in the Finnish gas market. All players will be able to import as well as sell gas within the gas network area, and the gas transmission network will be unbundled from Gasum and operated by a separate company. This will coincide with the completion of the Balticconnector.

The new transmission network company, Gasgrid Finland Oy, will be the Transmission System Operator (TSO) with system responsibility and offer gas transmission services under equal and non-discriminatory terms and conditions to all enterprises operating within the network. Gasgrid Finland will ensure access to the gas infrastructure in all circumstances.

What will the new gas market look like? 

The reform has raised a great many questions and expectations in the market. It’s been a pleasure to see how enthusiastically customers and stakeholders have been involved in developing the opening market. We’re most certainly going to see several new players in the Finnish gas market.

Opening up the market to competition is a good thing. Customers will be able to choose who they’ll be dealing with. Efficient and innovative players are bound to be able to compete successfully.

Supply certainty and reliability are particularly important in the gas market. Gasum has decades of experience and expertise in the gas sector. We know the customers participating in the market but, despite our strong track record, we will have to be able to serve our customers even better and to develop our services further.

Who’ll be the winners in the open market?

Once the market is opened up and functions as expected, the winners will be the customers – all those who are using gas.

The author is Gasum Vice President for Natural Gas and LNG.

2.12.2019