Kinect Energy Sweden AB's erroneous bid 2.5 years ago caused a shock in the market: it led to the halt of intraday trading across Northern Europe and plunged prices deep into the negative zone. Thanks to this, some Finnish residents were able to use electricity for free for an entire day.

During an hourly auction, the company mistakenly put up for sale an amount of electricity equivalent to about half of Finland's total consumption. Later, it had to make transactions on the market to adjust its position. The authorities then urged the public to maintain their consumption at normal levels to ensure the stability of the energy system.

On Monday, the Finnish Energy Authority issued a statement suggesting that the country's Market Court should fine the World Kinect Corp. division by 9,254,600 euros. The regulator found that the company had acted "negligently" by violating rules prohibiting market manipulation.

The proposed fine is 5.5% of the division's revenue for 2023, which is lower than the maximum possible penalty of 10%.

In its quarterly earnings report on Friday, the parent company of World Kinect reported that it recorded losses totaling $48.8 million at the end of 2023 due to this erroneous application. The document notes that "the Finnish Market Court will ultimately determine whether any penalties should be imposed, and if so, how much."

"We intend to strongly defend our interests in any proceedings," the company emphasized.