Technical problems interrupted EstLink 2 operations for only one hour in 2017

In 2017, the operation of the Estonian-Finnish electricity interconnection, EstLink 2, was interrupted due to technical problems for only one hour out of the year’s total of 8760 hours.

The reliability of EstLink 2, meaning the time that the interconnection was at the disposal of the electricity market, rose over the last year to 99.8 per cent of the total hours in the year. The same figure was 96.5 per cent in 2016. EstLink 2 was out of operation due to planned maintenance work for only 13 hours during the year.

A total of 2319 gigawatt-hours of electricity transited through EstLink 2 in 2017. Of this total, 768 gigawatt-hours moved from Estonia to Finland, and 1551 gigawatt-hours from Finland to Estonia.

The older Estonia-Finland interconnection, EstLink 1, was at the disposal of the electricity market for 98.5 per cent of the hours. This figure was at the same level in 2016.

A total of 119 gigawatt-hours of electricity transited through EstLink 1 from Estonia to Finland, and 143 gigawatt-hours passed from Finland to Estonia.

EstLink 1, which has a capacity of 350 megawatts, has been in operation for over ten years, while EstLink 2, whose capacity is 650 megawatts, was put at the disposal of the electricity market at the end of 2013. The interconnections are jointly owned by the Estonian and Finnish transmission system operators, Elering and Fingrid respectively.