“We started with this in 2003. We prepare the forecast year around, Mid-summer eve as well as Christmas eve,” relates Lars-Olof Ivarsson, production engineer.There are a number of factors to be considered. First and foremost is the planned production at the pulp plant and on the four paper machines.When the forecast is complete, it is sent to the electricity broker Scandem, which helps SCA purchase electricity on the NordPool electricity exchange. At one o’clock pm information is received about how the electricity price will trend during the next 24 hours, beginning at midnight the same evening.“The electricity rate can fluctuate greatly during 24 hours. If, for example, a nuclear power plant is shut down for maintenance, the price immediately increases,” Ivarsson says.“To minimise electricity costs, we try to control our electricity consumption with production in the pulp plant. At night, when electricity is cheaper, we run at full speed so we can fill the pulp storage towers. When the price is a bit more expensive, in the daytime on weekdays, we slow the pace at the pulp plant,” explains Lars-Olof Ivarsson on an article in the magazine SCA Inside.