Environmental responsibility
Fingrid’s most important corporate responsibility action is its work to combat climate change. Our business has a significant positive environmental and climate impact as we strengthen the electricity transmission grid to meet the needs of clean energy generation and promote the transition towards a clean electricity system. However, the construction and maintenance of the main grid also has a carbon footprint and negative environmental impacts. We mitigate the negative impacts by assessing them carefully and making preparations for potential environmental risks.
We work to ensure that the grid investments required to connect clean forms of electricity generation and consumption are made in time. The increase in renewable energy generation, which is highly dependent on the weather, also requires reform of the electricity market, such as a new approach to balancing out generation and consumption and an increase in demand-side management.
The transition towards a clean electricity system must not jeopardise the functioning of society. It is Fingrid’s duty to ensure that everyone receives electricity without disruptions. The importance of transmission reliability cannot be overstated: in the event of a nationwide blackout, the economic harm to customers and society would be in the region of EUR 100 million per hour.
The company’s other important areas for development with regard to climate change and the environment are reductions in the rate of transmission losses and improvements in energy efficiency. We endeavour to recycle as much decommissioned material as possible on our worksites. We also strive to protect natural values and support biodiversity in transmission line rights-of-way.
We report on the business risks and opportunities associated with climate change in accordance with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. We describe our climate goals and how the impacts of climate change are taken into consideration as part of Fingrid’s governance, strategy and risk management. The information we report is summarised in the adjacent Climate Fact Sheet.