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EU country may close stores to conserve power — Analysis

Around 2,800 Finnish shops may be forced to close periodically in the face of Europe’s energy crisis.

Grocery stores in Finland could have to take turns closing for hours at a time to reduce their energy usage this winter, the country’s grid operator told news outlet YLE on Sunday. Finnish residents will also be directed to cut their consumption as they face fuel shortages.

According to the grid operator, Finland’s roughly 2,800 food stores will need to come to arrangements with each other over who will close and who will stay open if power is rationed in a particular area. This kind of agreement is especially important in rural areas to ensure that all the outlets in one town or village don’t end up shutting at the same time, YLE noted.

Finland has not escaped the Europe-wide rise in fuel and energy costs that followed the EU’s sanctioning of Russia after Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in February. It applied to join NATO along with Sweden in May. However, its supply of gas from Russia has been cut off. This is after it refused to pay the price for the commodity by rubles as Russia asked. “unfriendly”Countries to visit.

Finland uses only 3.6% of its electricity from gas, and the majority of power it generates in Nordic nations comes from nuclear or hydropower, according to figures starting 2020. Just under half of Finland’s power came from Russia and Estonia, but this has changed recently. Finland decided to stop importing Russian power in April. RAO Nordic, Finland’s Russian supplier, cut it off completely. RAO Nordic claimed that it has stopped receiving payment for Finland.


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The country’s newest nuclear reactor, originally slated to open in 2009, has not yet come on line either. YLE reported last month that the reactor will not start producing power until December, when it is expected to meet nearly one sixth of the country’s demand. The nuclear project has faced technical difficulties and equipment failures since 2005 when it was built.

The government is urging households to reduce their consumption starting in August, just as it has done in other European countries.

Along with the EU’s 26 other member states, Finland has also committed to voluntarily lowering its gas consumption by 15% over the winter, under an agreement that could become mandatory if the bloc declares a state of emergency.

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