Statkraft and OX2 battery deal in Finland to smooth out wind power volatility

Statkraft, the Norwegian state-owned utility, announced on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement for power purchase (PPA) to buy two battery energy systems (BESS), developed by Sweden's OX2 and installed in Finland where wind power has been expanding rapidly.

Batteries of large size are essential to managing intermittent renewable energies such as wind energy. They help ensure supply reliability by charging when output is high, and emptying them when wind production drops.

Statkraft will optimise the use two large-scale batteries of 110 megawatts and 125 MW that OX2 is building in western Finland, starting in 2028.

According to the companies, the deal offers OX2 guaranteed revenues that will support the?financing of the project.

Hallvard Granheim from Statkraft's Markets Business Unit said: "We're buying access to the batteries and then optimising their use."

The batteries will be built on the same site that two wind farm projects of OX2 are located. They will also share a grid connector point.

Grid operator Fingrid says Finland has around 1 050 MW of electricity storage capacity. However, it cautions that finding the best connection points is also important to prevent bottlenecks.

According to the lobby group Finnish Energy, installed wind power capacity in Finland will almost triple to 9,433 Megawatts (MW), from 3,257 MW in 2021. Last year, it accounted for 28 percent of all electricity generation.

The number of hours per year where power prices fell below 0 euros a megawatt hour - a sign of an oversupply - increased 'from five hours in 2021 up to a 'peak of 724 in 2024. In 2025, this number fell to 465.

OX2 invests in battery systems not only in Finland but also in Australia, Poland and Sweden.

(source: Reuters)