Flaskhalsinkomster

Flaskhalsinkomster (congestion income) — the revenue Svenska kraftnät receives from price differences between Sweden’s four Bidding Areas and at cross-border interconnectors. This income exists because the grid lacks the capacity to fully equalize prices across zones and borders — the price spread itself is a direct measure of unrelieved congestion. Ei approves Svk’s proposed use of this income annually, under the ACER methodology that implements Art. 19.4 of the EU Electricity Market Regulation (2019/943). Art. 19.2 gives priority to guaranteeing the availability of allocated capacity and to maintaining or increasing cross-zonal capacity (including network investment that relieves congestion); under Art. 19.3, once those priorities are sufficiently met, income may be counted in the approval of network tariffs, and the rest goes to a separate internal account. (Source - Ei Beslut Flaskhalsinkomster 2027 (2026))

Scale

The accumulated balance reflects years where inflows exceeded approved expenditures; Svk draws on it to smooth annual variation. Total approved use in 2027 (excluding tariff reduction) is ~5.5 GSEK (5,477 mnkr). (Source - Ei Beslut Flaskhalsinkomster 2027 (2026))

Approved uses (2027 decision, ärendenummer 2026-101903, decided 2026-05-29)

• Mothandel (countertrading): 65 mnkr — purchasing energy to relieve intra-zone congestion
• Överbelastningshantering: 520 mnkr — 1,309 MW contracted across 20 resources and 10 plants; contracted for 1 January 2025–31 December 2029; resources used to redirect flows and relieve constrained grid components during disturbances; described in Capacity Adequacy and Flexibility as the Missing Reserve as a bridge measure, activatable year-round without advance warning (Source - Svk Uppdrag 3.1 Leveranssäkert Elsystem (2026))
• Reaktiv effekt: 34 mnkr — reactive power procurement for voltage control
• EPAD support: 20 mnkr — direct costs of the auctions of financial products hedging cross-zone price differences. Svk has run an EPAD auction program since 7 February 2023, arranged by Svensk Kraftmäkling AB (SKM), covering monthly/quarterly/yearly contracts in SE2, SE3, and SE4. Auctions use marginal (pay-as-clear) pricing; ~25 participants on average per auction (Q1 2026). Trading moved to Euronext in Q1 2026 (previously Nasdaq Oslo ASA). Full account in EPAD Auctions. (Raw/Svk/handelsregler-epad-auktioner-extracted.txt, Raw/Svk/kvartalsrapport-epads-q1-2026-extracted.txt)
• KAPRIFOL / Nordic RCC: 180 mnkr — Svk’s program for implementing the Nordic Regional Coordination Centre (NRCC) under SO GL
• 15 network investment projects: 3,472 mnkr — specific grid projects co-funded from congestion income
• CNE maintenance + transfer losses + emergency preparedness: 1,175 mnkr (Ei’s Tabell 1 total; the sub-items 330 + 701 + 145 mnkr sum to 1,176)
• Kraftsystemhubben: 11 mnkr — real-time system data exchange program, closing mid-2027. Functions as a “system of systems”: ingests data from DSOs and foreign TSOs and routes it to whichever internal Svk system needs it, including the imbalance-forecasting algorithm behind the aFRR/mFRR activation-order reform. Whether it strictly qualifies as a “digital twin” is an open question even inside Svk — it has digital-twin-like functionality regardless of the label. A separate effort, RISE’s national grid digital twin (Vinnova-funded 30 April 2026, with Energiforsk and Svk as partners), is a distinct early-stage project rather than a continuation of Kraftsystemhubben. (Source - Digitala Monster — AI och Svenska Energisystemet (2026))
• Tariff reduction: ~6.8 GSEK — direct subsidy reducing transmission charges to all tariff payers. How this shows up in the charge for 2027: the fixed fee’s reduction is cut by about 350 MSEK (a rise of about 20% on average) while the energy fee is reduced by about 2 bn SEK; Svk’s news item of 28 September 2026 and its FAQ give the decided 2027 reduction as over 8.3 bn SEK: over 2 bn SEK off the energy fee and over 6.3 bn SEK off the fixed fee. That is higher than Ei’s ~6.8 GSEK and the sources do not say why. See Transmission Network Charge and Source - Svk Transmissionsnätsavgift 2027 (2026).

HVDC pause and the EU nätpaketet

The HVDC interconnector pause (May 2026) is partly motivated by the EU nätpaketet’s potential restrictions on how congestion income can be used — Svk and the government want to preserve flexibility to use these revenues for fossil-free dispatchable production needed for electrification (not least for countries with internal price zones) and electricity support (elstöd). (Source - Svk Utlandskablar Uppdrag Reviderad Investeringsplan (2026)) On 23 September 2026 the government also instructed Svk (Dnr KN2026/01699) to report, for 2027–2031, how much congestion income is needed each year for the Art. 19 priority objectives and for a tariff reduction that prevents sudden large increases in the transmission tariff, to report the remaining annual surplus (taking account of the existing accumulated balance and expected inflows), and to propose other uses for that surplus that benefit Swedish electricity customers or the electricity system and allow funds to be used faster; the report is due 14 January 2027 and should take account of Ei’s separate report on congestion-income use due 30 October 2026. (Raw/Clippings/Uppdrag till Svenska kraftnät att redovisa årliga överskott av flaskhalsinkomster (KN2026-01699).md) A 2026 CGE welfare analysis of the broader “cutting the cable” question — restricting exports/interconnector capacity to protect domestic electricity-intensive industries — finds this is a far costlier way to achieve that protection than targeted subsidies would be. See Electricity Export Restrictions.

A possible new use under consideration: buying regional grid lines

Kommittédirektiv 2026:83 (July 2026) floats using flaskhalsinkomster to fund Svk taking over higher-voltage regionnät lines from DSOs, extending Svk’s överföringssystem toward the EU’s standard two-level (transmission/distribution) grid model — see Electric Grid Structure. Rationale: Svk’s rådighet as systemansvarig för överföringssystem today covers only 220 kV and 400 kV lines, narrower than most European TSO peers, because Sweden has historically run a three-level grid (stam-/transmissions-, region-, lokalnät) rather than the EU’s two. The idea is consistent with the EU rule that congestion income be spent first on debottlenecking — but it is an investigation mandate, not a decision; the utredning reports 24 November 2027.

Government assignment on annual surpluses and alternative uses (September 2026)

On 23 September 2026 the government (KN2026/01699) asked Svk to report, for 2027–2031, how much congestion income is needed each year to (1) sufficiently meet the priority objectives in Art. 19 of Regulation 2019/943 and (2) carry out a tariff reduction that counters large sudden rises in the transmission tariff; to estimate for each year how much remains as a surplus, given the existing accumulated balance and expected inflows (planned use after 2031 is not to be considered); and to propose other uses for the surplus that benefit Swedish customers or the electricity system and let funds be used faster than otherwise. Svk is to take into account Ei’s report on the use of congestion income, due by 30 October 2026. The report is due to the Government Offices by 14 January 2027. (Source - Regeringen Uppdrag Svk Flaskhalsinkomster Överskott (2026))

Svk’s director-general said on 28 September 2026 that Svk is looking at further measures within the existing rules if the situation with high electricity prices worsens over the winter (Source - Svk Transmissionsnätsavgift 2027 (2026)). The possible new use discussed in committee directive 2026:83 (buying regional lines) is a separate track; see above.

Related pages

• Svenska kraftnät — the TSO that collects and disburses this income
• Bidding Areas — the zone structure whose price differences generate flaskhalsinkomster
• Electricity Export Restrictions — the CGE analysis of interconnector-capacity restriction as an alternative policy lever
• Balancing Markets — Kraftsystemhubben’s role in the aFRR/mFRR activation-order reform