Fennovoima Ltd (Finnish: Fennovoima Oy)[2][3] is a nuclear power company established by Russian state's nuclear company Rosatom and a consortium of Finnish state-owned power and industrial companies.
Finnish industry, trade and the energy companies in need of their own electricity production started the company in 2007. Originally Fennovoima was created as a partnership between Voimaosakeyhtiö SF, a cooperative producing electricity for its owners' needs at production cost in proportion to their ownership share (Mankala), with 66% and the German power company E.ON with 34%. After E.ON's withdrawal from Finland, Voimaosakeyhtiö SF briefly owned 100% of Fennovoima shares.[5][6][7] According to the agreement with RussianRosatom, RAOS Voima Oy, a Finnish subsidiary of Rosatom, acquired a 34% stake which previously belonged to E.ON.[8] Although RAOS Voima was prepared to take 49% in the project, Voimaosakeyhtiö SF commits to own more than half of the power plant and aims to increase the share of Finnish companies up to 66%.[9] As of 2014, Voimaosakeyhtiö SF has 44 shareholders.[9]
On 21 April 2010, the Government of Finland decided to grant a permit (Decision-in-Principle) to Fennovoima for construction of a nuclear reactor.[10][11][12] The decision was approved by the Parliament on 1 July 2010.[13][14] The estimated construction time is six years until 2024.
The chosen plant model is Rosatom's pressurized water reactor AES-2006 which is the latest evolution of VVER plant designs. The other bidders for the project were Areva and Toshiba.
Fennovoima began direct negotiations with Rosatom in April 2013. On 21 December 2013, Fennovoima and Rosatom Overseas, a subsidiary of Rosatom, signed a plant supply contract. The plant should be commissioned by 2024.[15][16]
On 28 February 2014 Voimaosakeyhtiö SF made the final decision to participate in Fennovoima's nuclear power plant construction.[9] The final investment decision was to be made in 2014.[16]
Fennovoima submitted an application at the end of June 2015 including the stakeholder with a 35 percent share of the Russian firm Rosatom and a percent share of Croatian power company Migrit Energija.[17] In August 2015 the public was informed that Migrit Solarna Energija would not be involved in the venture after it was reviewed to be owned by Sberbank Russia.[18]
Criticism and financials
In July 2015 less than a third of Finns supported a Fennovoima nuclear plant.[19]
The company's financial plans assume the plant will be able to sell electricity at no more than 50 €/MWh across its lifetime,[20] while the International Energy Agency estimates LCOE of 150 $/MWh for nuclear in the EU in 2020 (115 $/MWh in 2050), twice as expensive as offshore wind (75 $/MWh).[21]
^"Fennovoima Oy". Business Information System. Helsinki: The National Board of Patents and Registration and the Tax Administration, Finland. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
^"Fennovoima Oy. Yhtiöjärjestys" [Fennovoima Ltd. Articles of Association] (PDF). Ydinvoimalaitoksen periaatepäätöshakemus (in Finnish). Helsinki: Fennovoima Oy. 1 December 2008. p. 22. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 5 October 2011. Yhtiön toiminimi on Fennovoima Oy, ruotsiksi Fennovoima Ab ja englanniksi Fennovoima Ltd. [The trade name of the company is Fennovoima Oy, in Swedish Fennovoima Ab, and in English Fennovoima Ltd.]
^"Nuclear power chiefs assess path to new capacity growth". World Nuclear News. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015. Pekka Ottavainen, former chairman of Voimaosakeyhtiö, the cooperative of Finnish companies that owns Fennovoima, previously said the plant will deliver electricity at "no more than" €50/MWh.
