Sure, volatility is here to stay. But it doesn’t have to be a risk.

The new normal in the energy market

Long gone are the days when energy market volatility was a temporary challenge. These days, it’s a defining feature. We’re in a whole new energy era. Driven by the rapid growth of renewables, increasing electrification and shifting weather patterns, prices now fluctuate more sharply and more often than ever before.

For many industrial companies, this creates real pressure. Price spikes make budgeting difficult, and the gap between high and low prices can actually change profitability in a single day. In short: the same dynamics that drive the energy transition also make the market much harder to navigate.

But here’s the thing. Volatility isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, for those who know how to manage it, it can open entirely new opportunities. But first:

Why volatility matters for industrials

By design, most industrial customers operate in long investment cycles. They plan in decades, but the electricity market prices energy hour by hour or even in 15 minute intervals. This colossal mismatch makes risk management one of the defining challenges of the green transition.

In this, predictability is the key. When energy costs are uncertain, new business models, such as fossil-free steel, e-fuels or data centers, become much harder to finance. And as we all know, the volatility we see today is not going away. It truly is the new normal. The question is how to live with it. And, as we are about to find out, even turn it into our advantage.

The flipside of volatility is flexibility. And that, in turn, creates value

Flexibility simply means adjusting consumption or production in response to external signals. For example, by reducing electricity use when prices peak or increasing it when power is abundant and cheap. So, volatility creates room for those who can be flexible.

Every megawatt that can be shifted in time saves money. For some customers, this might mean letting cooling or ventilation systems run at off-peak hours. For others, it could involve using battery storage, electric boilers or industrial heat systems to respond to price signals in real time. At Fortum, we’ve seen how even modest flexibility can make a big difference. 

In one industrial case, the company reduced total energy costs by more than 15% by using flexible capacity across several balancing markets, including FCR and mFRR (where customers are rewarded for helping to stabilize the grid). In the long run, that kind of agility becomes a clear competitive advantage. It’s easy math.

Especially new industrial processes should be designed with this flexibility in mind.

Managing volatility with the right tools

For obvious reasons, there’s no silver-bullet solution to volatility. But there are proven ways to manage it. Such as:

• Long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) provide price stability and predictability, often over 5–20 years. They allow companies to plan investments with confidence.
• Hedging and Index products help reduce short-term risk exposure and create smoother budgeting cycles.
• Flexibility services, such as those provided through us at Fortum Spring, enable customers to monetize their flexibility by participating in balancing and reserve markets.
• And above all, partnership and expertise, because in a market this complex, experience matters as much as technology. Sometimes even more.

At Fortum, we help customers every day to combine these tools into an integrated strategy. The goal isn’t to remove volatility from the market. That’s impossible. But we can help control how it affects their business.

Stability is the new competitive edge

So, volatility doesn’t have to equal uncertainty. The future winners will be companies that combine stable long-term planning with operational flexibility. In this, we can help.

We have worked in the Nordic power market for over a century now. We’ve seen the system evolve from hydropower to nuclear to wind and solar – and now, to an interconnected, data-driven market. And what we’ve learned is simple: the more unpredictable the market becomes, the more value there is in flexibility and the expertise to manage it. 

In short, the complex world of energy becomes easier, together.