Voimaosakeyhtiö raises stake in Hanhikivi project

Finland's Voimaosakeyhtiö SF has increased its share in the planned Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant to 55.5% from 50.2%. The plant, to be built in Pyhäjoki in northern Finland, is scheduled to start generating electricity by 2024.

The government has said that a construction licence for the project will only be issued once Finnish ownership is more than 60%, which must be achieved before the end of June 2015.

The project is owned by Fennovoima, of which Voimaosakeyhtiö has a 66% share. The remaining 34% of Fennovoima is held by RAOS Voima Oy, a Finnish subsidiary set up last year by Russia's Rosatom specifically to hold a stake in the company.

Founded in 2007, Voimaosakeyhtiö now includes more than 40 companies. Two of them - Sallila Energia and Keravan Energia - decided to increase their stake in the plant, according to Fennovoima, thus increasing Voimaosakeyhtiö’s stake to 55.5%. Just over 10% in the project remains unallocated.

"Voimaosakeyhtiö SF will continue to negotiate with existing and potential new shareholders," Fennovoima said. "The goal is to preserve the Finnish share in Fennovoima at 66%."

In September, Finland's government approved an amendment to Fennovoima's decision in principle for its Hanhikivi plant, paving the way for the company to apply to build a Russian-designed reactor there. Fennovoima had received a positive decision in principle from the government in 2010 for the construction of a new nuclear plant of 1500-2500 MWe capacity at Hanhikivi. However, in early March, the company applied to amend that decision in principle to include Rosatom's AES-2006 plant, which uses a 1200 MWe-class reactor.

Voimaosakeyhtiö announced in March it had signed a share transaction agreement with RAOS Voima Oy taking 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. In order for Voimaosakeyhtiö to maintain its ownership level in Fennovoima at 66%, it must persuade other current shareholders to increase their respective stakes or find new investors for the power plant project.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News