Spot electricity in Finland 2026 — comprehensive guide

Spot electricity (Finnish: pörssisähkö) is an electricity contract where the price follows the Nord Pool wholesale market hour by hour. Instead of paying a fixed cents-per-kWh rate, your price changes 24 times a day based on supply and demand across the Nordic electricity market. This guide explains how it works, when it pays off, and who it suits.

What is spot electricity?

A spot contract means your kWh price tracks the Nord Pool day-ahead market. The Nord Pool exchange auctions electricity for every hour of the next day in advance — for instance, at 13:00 today the market sets all 24 hourly prices for tomorrow. The same hourly price applies to all spot customers in the same bidding zone (Finland is one zone: FI).

Your monthly bill on a spot contract is the sum of (hourly price × kWh consumed that hour) across the month, plus your provider’s spot margin (typically 0.20–0.60 c/kWh) and basic fee (typically 2–5 €/month). Some intro offers waive the basic fee for 3–12 months.

How does Nord Pool work?

Nord Pool is the Nordic power exchange. Producers (hydro, nuclear, wind, gas, biomass) submit hourly supply offers; retailers and large industrial buyers submit demand bids. An algorithm matches them, setting one clearing price per hour. The market clears at 12:00 CET daily for the next 24 hours.

Prices vary depending on: weather (wind output, hydro reservoirs, temperature-driven demand), fuel prices (gas, coal — affect marginal generation), cross-border flows (Finland imports from Sweden and Estonia), and nuclear/plant availability. Finnish prices are often higher than the Nordic average due to limited transmission capacity during cold spells.

Spot vs fixed-price — which is cheaper?

Looking at the Finnish market 2015–2024, the spot price (Nord Pool FI annual average) was cheaper than the typical fixed contract in 7 out of 10 years. The exceptions: 2021, 2022 — when gas-driven crisis spiked prices. Over 10 years, an average household saved approximately 10–25 % on energy costs with spot vs fixed. But the savings come with year-to-year volatility — a particularly bad winter (e.g. December 2022) can spike monthly bills 2–4×.

See the full fixed-price contract guide for the other side of this comparison.

Hourly pricing — when is it cheapest?

Typical Finnish hourly pattern (weekdays in winter):

• 00:00–06:00 — Lowest prices. Industrial demand low, consumer demand minimal.
• 06:00–10:00 — Morning peak. Highest prices of the day (people waking, work starting).
• 10:00–17:00 — Moderate prices. Daytime baseload.
• 17:00–21:00 — Evening peak. Second-highest prices (people home, cooking, heating).
• 21:00–00:00 — Falling toward night low.

If you can shift major loads (EV charging, washing machine, sauna) to 00–06, you cut your electricity bill significantly. EV owners report 30–50 % savings on charging costs with night charging.

Spot electricity and electric heating

Electrically heated detached houses (15 000–25 000 kWh/year) are where the spot vs fixed decision matters most in absolute euros. A 1 c/kWh difference = 150–250 € per year. Over 10 years, spot has saved electric-heat households on average 1 500–3 000 € — but with substantial year-to-year swings.

Risk consideration: cold January with high spot prices can mean a 600–900 € monthly bill for an electrically heated detached house. If your budget can’t absorb such spikes, hybrid or fixed-price are safer.

Spot electricity and EVs

EV owners are the clearest ”winners” with spot electricity. A typical EV consumes 2 000–4 000 kWh/year, much of which can be shifted to cheap night hours via smart charging. A Tesla Model 3 owner charging during 02:00–06:00 in 2024 paid around 4–6 c/kWh on average for charging — half the daytime price. Combined with home-only charging, this means EV running costs of 2–4 €/100 km vs 8–12 €/100 km for petrol.

Spot margin and basic fee — what to compare

The ”spot margin” (also called marginaali) is the provider’s markup on top of the raw Nord Pool price. This is what you actually compare between spot providers:

• Spot margin: 0.20–0.60 c/kWh typical. Lower is better.
• Basic fee: 2.00–5.95 €/month. Lower is better.
• Intro perks: 3–12 fee-free months. Significant first-year savings.

Use the Verrokit comparison to see all spot providers ranked by total monthly cost for your annual consumption.

Example calculation

Detached house, 18 000 kWh/year, electric heating. Assumes 6.5 c/kWh Nord Pool FI average:

• Energy cost: 18 000 × (6.5 + 0.35 spot margin) / 100 = 1 233 €/year
• Basic fee: 3.95 € × 12 = 47.40 €/year
• Total annual energy cost: ~1 280 €
• Equivalent fixed-price (8.5 c/kWh) would be: 1 530 € + 47 = ~1 577 €
• Average yearly savings with spot: ~300 € (but with monthly variation)

Who is spot electricity for?

Spot is for you if: you can absorb variable monthly bills, you have flexibility to shift loads to cheap hours (EV, washing machine timer, smart heating), you have a multi-year time horizon, and you value lowest average cost over predictability.

Spot is not for you if: your budget is tight and can’t absorb 2–3× monthly bill spikes during cold snaps, you prefer predictable billing, or you can’t/won’t monitor your usage.

Frequently asked questions