Deal-making in Finland has overcome two government roadblocks to issuing a construction permit for the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant slated for northern Finland.
The country's largest utility company Fortum, which has run the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant since 1977, has agreed to purchase 15 percent of the Fennovoima project that the government stipulated be at least 60 percent owned by Finnish companies. In addition, Economy Minister Jan Vapaavuori said that regulatory agency STUK stipulated that Fennovoima “develop its organizational and skills in the [nuclear] sector.” That is where Fortum's experience operating Loviisa serves as a critical part of the deal.
Vapaavuori said deal also pushes Finnish ownership above the 60 percent margin established by the government.
But Fortum, which is more than 50 percent owned by the government, had its own stipulations, as well, agreeing to going forward with the deal only after securing 75 percent of TGC-1's hydro assets, which are being split off from the main company in a restructuring.
The new hydroelectric company will be 75 percent owned by Fortum and 25 percent by Rosatom, the state-owned Russian company that is developing the Fennovoima project. TGC-1, which operates 40 hydro plants and 14 thermal plants in northwest Russia, is currently owned by Fortum and Russia-owned energy giant Gazprom.
The Finnish parliament, which is scheduled to vote on a construction license for the pressurized water AES-2006 Hanhikivi 1 by the end of the week was handed a petition signed by 20,000 Swedes, complaining that environmental and safety issues still needed to be addressed. Whether or not that is a deal-breaker should be known by the end of the week.
Fennovoima has said the Rosatom-developed Hanhikivi 1 is slated for a commercial start in 2024.