According to Hando Sutter, the Chairman of the Management Board of Eesti Energia, the common energy market of the Nordic countries and the Baltic States creates an opportunity to offer services in Finland as well. “Finnish electricity market has functioned well for a long time and it was set as an example also for the opening of the Estonian market. Finland will be one of the first countries in the world, following Estonia, which will take into use an information system, where all contracts related to electricity sales and transfers, and electricity consumption measurement data will be assembled. This will speed up and simplify processes for all participants in the market and ensure equal possibilities for offering services to customers. In addition, the Finnish are one of the most diligent switchers of their electricity sellers in Europe. The interest of Finnish electricity customers for new service providers is high and they are ready to try new and more innovative services,” says Sutter.
In foreign markets, Eesti Energia is known under the brand name Enefit. Enefit’s offer in Finland is concentrated on digital solutions, such as user-friendly home page and mobile application. “Our customers in Estonia are already used to handling their electricity matters digitally by using mobile devices. Now we wish to offer these efficient solutions in Finland as well,” notes Sutter and adds that both in Estonia and Finland, a transition to mobile applications is taking place in banking as well as in communications.
According to the CEO of Enefit Finland, Ville Pentti, Enefit’s concept in Finland is to be the energy seller on the phone. “Our customers can analyse and manage their electricity consumption by using the Enefit mobile app and therefore reduce their electricity bills. Choosing an electricity package and signing a contract with us is very easy both on our home page and on the customer’s mobile phone. We are the best option for customers that wish to use electrical energy smartly and thereby with lower costs. Our solution has been tried and tested in Estonia – the customers of Eesti Energia that use the company’s mobile application, have reduced their electricity bills as much as 15%,” says Pentti.
Enefit offers three different electricity packages: fixed-price package Enefit Takuu, Nord Pool exchange price package Enefit Markkina and Enefit Markkina + Turva, which uses mostly Nord Pool price, but enables a limit to be set to the exchange price to ensure that the price will never become too high for the customer. All contracts can be conveniently signed on the mobile as well.
Similarly to Eesti Energia mobile app, Enefit’s app in Finland will also show the electricity prices for the following day and enable the customer to plan their electricity consumption according to lower-priced periods. For example, if it is very cold outside, people use more electricity for heating during daytime and therefore the price of electricity becomes more expensive. So, people can decide on their own, whether to do their laundry during daytime or to do it at night while the price of electricity is lower. “By having more information, people can manage their electricity consumption and better plan their household expenses,” Pentti explains.
Entering the Finnish electricity market is a part of Eesti Energia’s strategic goal of growing from a Baltic electricity seller to an energy seller and service provider covering the whole Baltic Sea region. Next to Estonia, Eesti Energia currently operates as an electricity and gas seller in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland while planning to start sales in Sweden in the near future as well.
Eesti Energia is an energy group, which consists of more than 20 companies and provides jobs for more than 5800 people. Eesti Energia is the largest producer of energy in the Baltics, incl. one of the biggest renewable energy producers. The company produces electricity from oil shale, wind, water, sunlight, biomass and mixed municipal waste. Eesti Energia group offers technological solutions and maintenance service to industrial companies. The nation’s largest distribution network company Elektrilevi is also part of Eesti Energia group.