Hanhikivi investment decision

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

A binding decision to construct and finance the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant in Finland has been made by the shareholders of Fennovoima, including Russian state nuclear company Rosatom.

Impression of an AES-2006 VVER plant at Hanhikivi (Image: Fennovoima)

At the general meeting of Fennovoima, held today in Helsinki, Voimaosakeyhtiö SF - the Finnish majority owner of Fennovoima - and Rosatom announced their intention to build the proposed Hanhikivi plant. The plant will be built in the municipality of Pyhäjoki on Finland's western coast.

Fennovoima signed the plant supply contract for Hanhikivi with Rusatom Overseas - Rosatom's subsidiary concerned with exports of nuclear power plants - last December. Rosatom has offered to build a plant using an AES-2006 VVER.

At the end of March, Voimaosakeyhtiö announced that it had signed a share transaction agreement with RAOS Voima Oy, a Finnish subsidiary set up by Rosatom specifically for holding a stake in Fennovoima. Through that agreement Rosatom now holds a 34% stake in Fennovoima.

In February, Voimaosakeyhtiö said that 44 of its shareholders had confirmed they would take a combined 50.2% stake in Hanhikivi project. However, Voimaosakeyhtiö says that it "aims at keeping its ownership in Fennovoima at the current 66%." This would mean persuading its current shareholders to increase their respective stakes or by finding new investors for the power plant project.

An application was submitted by Fennovoima to the government last month to amend the 2010 decision-in-principle. This decision allows it to construct a new nuclear plant of 1500-2500 MWe capacity and was based on the company building a plant featuring Areva's EPR or Kerena design, or Toshiba's ABWR. The amendment will include Rosatom's AES-2006 plant, which uses a 1200 MWe-class reactor. Once passed by the government, the amendment would be submitted to parliament for final approval.

Fennovoima said that, according to the agreed schedule, the Hanhikivi plant will start generating electricity in 2024.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News