Who runs the main grid
Fingrid owns and operates Finland's main grid. A direct connection means a switchyard at 400, 220 or 110 kV, or, case by case, a 110 kV line. Whether a connection is feasible is established through a connection enquiry sent to Fingrid in its map service.
The map
The map service is called Grid Scope. It's free, comes in Finnish, English and Swedish, and shows the grid as it stands at 110 kV and above, production projects that have been made public (mostly wind), Fingrid's investment plan for the next ten years and, at some substations, estimates of how much could be connected for production and for consumption. Fingrid doesn't guarantee that the information is complete or error-free, and notes that building one project changes the capacity at other points.
Where the commitment is made
Fingrid confirms capacity when the agreement is made. It takes effect once both parties have signed and the connection fee has been paid, and if the connection isn't put into service as agreed, Fingrid can free that capacity for others. Its letter of intent reserves no capacity.
Fingrid's principle is to agree connection capacity once the project's permits are legally in force. Since June 2025 it also offers a conditional agreement for very large industrial projects that face long permitting, which Fingrid describes in terms of the permit process.
What we look at in Finland
We start with Grid Scope and Fingrid's published rules, then read a site against the operator's own answer. We want to know which agreement stage a position has reached, and whether it depends on permits that haven't yet entered into force. The other two Nordic operators work differently, and the Nordic grids side by side shows how. Our note on firm and non-firm grid connections explains why the word conditional means different things in Norway and in Finland.
Questions we get
Does a Fingrid letter of intent reserve capacity?
No. Fingrid says a letter of intent guarantees no grid connection and reserves no grid connection capacity.
When does Fingrid agree capacity for a large project?
Its starting point is once the project's permits have entered into legal force. A conditional model, added in June 2025, covers very large industrial projects that face long permitting.
Is Grid Scope free to use?
Yes. It's free of charge and available in Finnish, English and Swedish.
Related: Norway, Sweden and land with a grid connection.
General information, not legal advice. Rules and pages as read on 17 October 2026.