Fennovoima is a Finnish consortium that announced Monday it had cancelled a contract to Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm, for the construction of a Finnish nuclear power station. Due to delays and the increased risk from conflict in Ukraine, this was done.
This announcement ended years of uncertainty and political wrangling over the Hanhikivi 1 plant. This project would have made Finland more dependent on Russia for its energy.
Fennovoima said that it had terminated the contract due to RAOS Project’s “significant delays and inability to deliver the project”, referring specifically to Rosatom’s Finnish subsidiary.
The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the project.” RAOS was unable “to mitigate any risks”, the statement stated, but did not go into further detail.
Rosatom said it was “extremely disappointed” with the decision. It claimed that the decision was made without consulting shareholders, including one subsidiary.
It said that the project was moving along and that they had established a good working relationship.
Fennovoima commissioned this plant. A consortium of Finnish stakeholders Outokumpu. Fortum. and SSAB owned two-thirds. Rosatom’s subsidiary RAOS Voima controls the rest.
In 2014, the Finnish government approved Rosatom. The Finnish government approved Rosatom in 2014. However, surveys showed that Finns were becoming more anxious about the deal following Russia’s annexation of Finland earlier in that year.
After Russia’s February invasion in Ukraine, which Moscow called a “special military operation”, Mika Lintila, Finland’s minister of economic affairs, repeatedly stated that it was impossible to issue a permit.
Finland shares a border with Russia of 1,300km (810 miles). Due to the Ukraine conflict, Finland and Sweden are poised to apply for NATO membership.
Fennovoima management said that it was too early to speculate on what might happen next, or whether they would seek a partner to complete the power plant.
Chairperson of Fennovoima’s board, Esa Harmala stated that she believes that nuclear power will be needed in the future. However, that was just her personal opinion.
Harmala stated that the initial costs of the facility were 7.5 billion euros (7.89 trillion). Harmala also stated that 600-700 million had been spent by the consortium on it.
Fennovoima declared that its cooperation with RAOS Project would end immediately, and that it was impossible for Rosatom to predict what would happen in Fennovoima.
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