Tokyo, Apr 16 11:32
By Kati Pohjanpalo and Diana ben-Aaron
April 15 -- Finland, the European Union’s biggest power consumer per capita, may double nuclear energy production in the next 10 years to wean the Nordic nation off Russian electricity imports that reached a record high in 2009.
Fortum Oyj, Finland’s largest utility, Teollisuuden Voima Oyj, and a group led by E.ON AG want permission to build three reactors in addition to the current four. The government plans to make a decision this month.
“It’s first and foremost to be able to replace Russian electricity imports,” Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen said in an interview. “We should not be dependent on them and there is no sense in paying Russia for electricity we could produce ourselves.” He is chairman of the National Coalition Party, the smaller government coalition member, which supports granting permits to all applicants provided they meet all criteria.
Finland’s reliance on imports, which come mainly from Russia and supply 15 percent of all power, make the country vulnerable because of its energy-intensive industries such as papermaking and winters where temperatures in the north can remain below freezing for six months, supporters of the building program say. Opponents say nuclear energy is too dangerous and Finland should seek other options.
“It’s worrying that three-quarters of Finland’s imported energy comes from Russia, including 100 percent of natural gas,” said Ilkka Kananen, head of the National Emergency Supply Agency. “Electricity imports are a structural vulnerability and a risk to supply security.”
Russia cut gas deliveries to Ukraine three times in five years in a pricing dispute, the last row in January 2009, which lasted three weeks, causing disrupted supplies and widespread shortages in eastern and Western Europe.
Minus 50
Electricity consumption in Finland is the highest in the EU and more than double Germany’s per capita use, in part because temperatures in winter can drop to as low as minus 50 degrees Centigrade (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit). The nation’s main option for increased energy independence lies with nuclear power because it lacks the oil and gas supplies of Russia and Norway.
“We have to reach our security of supply goal even in peak load situations,” said Juha Naukkarinen, head of Finnish Energy Industries, which represents power producers. “All applicants should get the permit and let them evaluate when to build.”
In 2009, Finland’s nuclear reactors generated one-third of the nation’s 68.7 terawatt hours of electricity output, while hydropower accounted for 18 percent, Statistics Finland data show. Finland consumed a total of 80.8 million terawatt hours, with the difference made up by imports.
At Least One
Russian electricity cost Finland 365 million euros ($497 million) last year and accounted for three-quarters of all imported electricity, the statistics office said.
Finance Minister Katainen is at odds with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen’s Centre party, which is pushing for a mixture of new nuclear power and renewable energy. Economy Minister Mauri Pekkarinen, a Centre Party member, has said the government is unlikely to issue three new permits.
“We can easily see from the debate what the outcome will be,” said Tapio Litmanen, a sociology professor at the University of Jyvaeskylae in central Finland who has edited a book on the nuclear power industry. “At least one new license will be given.”
Finland, which has four working reactors, was second behind the U.K. among western nations to start building additional nuclear plants following the Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine in 1986.
‘Unnecessary’
Teollisuuden Voima, or TVO, one of the three applicants, is building the country’s fifth reactor, the world’s largest, on the west coast with Areva SA. The original target cost was 3 billion euros, though Areva has set aside 2.3 billion euros for cost overruns, the company said on March 4.
Environmental groups also point to construction delays at the TVO Olkiluoto-3 reactor, set to open three years late in 2012, as an example of the complexities and hazards associated with nuclear energy.
Nuclear power is “unnecessary for Finland at this time,” said Janne Bjoerklund, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation’s nuclear campaign coordinator. “Even one new atomic reactor will make Finland a nuclear power exporter.”
After Finnish electricity consumption fell 7.4 percent last year, the biggest drop since World War II as the recession trimmed output and the forest industry shuttered capacity, critics say that’s evidence new reactors are not needed and the industry’s consumption forecast is too high.
TVO and Fortum, which are partly government owned, have selected sites and waste repository locations for their new plants. Fennovoima, 34 percent owned by E.ON, has narrowed possible locations down to two in northern Finland.
Capacity
E.ON, which runs power plants in Germany, the U.K. and Sweden, posted net income of 5.33 billion euros last year, adjusted to exclude changes in the value of fuel hedging. Shares of the Dusseldorf, Germany-based company have declined 2.5 percent so far this year. E.ON gained 0.5 percent to 28.54 euros as of 11:13 a.m. in Frankfurt.
Finland’s four reactors have a capacity of about 2,700 megawatts. Olkiluoto-3 will produce 1,600 megawatts. The proposed three new reactors would add from 3,500 megawatts to 6,100 megawatts. The government predicts electricity usage of about 100 terawatt hours in 2030, while the Finnish energy industry forecasts it will grow faster.
New power sources are also needed to replace plants that come to the end of their lifespan and are taken offline. Fortum’s two Loviisa reactors will be shuttered in 2027 and 2030. Of Finland’s current power plants, only Olkiluoto-3 and some hydropower plants will be generating electricity in 2050, Finnish Energy Industries’ data shows.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=a2cQVi9S269w&pid=20601087
By Kati Pohjanpalo and Diana ben-Aaron
April 15 -- Finland, the European Union’s biggest power consumer per capita, may double nuclear energy production in the next 10 years to wean the Nordic nation off Russian electricity imports that reached a record high in 2009.
Fortum Oyj, Finland’s largest utility, Teollisuuden Voima Oyj, and a group led by E.ON AG want permission to build three reactors in addition to the current four. The government plans to make a decision this month.
“It’s first and foremost to be able to replace Russian electricity imports,” Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen said in an interview. “We should not be dependent on them and there is no sense in paying Russia for electricity we could produce ourselves.” He is chairman of the National Coalition Party, the smaller government coalition member, which supports granting permits to all applicants provided they meet all criteria.
Finland’s reliance on imports, which come mainly from Russia and supply 15 percent of all power, make the country vulnerable because of its energy-intensive industries such as papermaking and winters where temperatures in the north can remain below freezing for six months, supporters of the building program say. Opponents say nuclear energy is too dangerous and Finland should seek other options.
“It’s worrying that three-quarters of Finland’s imported energy comes from Russia, including 100 percent of natural gas,” said Ilkka Kananen, head of the National Emergency Supply Agency. “Electricity imports are a structural vulnerability and a risk to supply security.”
Russia cut gas deliveries to Ukraine three times in five years in a pricing dispute, the last row in January 2009, which lasted three weeks, causing disrupted supplies and widespread shortages in eastern and Western Europe.
Minus 50
Electricity consumption in Finland is the highest in the EU and more than double Germany’s per capita use, in part because temperatures in winter can drop to as low as minus 50 degrees Centigrade (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit). The nation’s main option for increased energy independence lies with nuclear power because it lacks the oil and gas supplies of Russia and Norway.
“We have to reach our security of supply goal even in peak load situations,” said Juha Naukkarinen, head of Finnish Energy Industries, which represents power producers. “All applicants should get the permit and let them evaluate when to build.”
In 2009, Finland’s nuclear reactors generated one-third of the nation’s 68.7 terawatt hours of electricity output, while hydropower accounted for 18 percent, Statistics Finland data show. Finland consumed a total of 80.8 million terawatt hours, with the difference made up by imports.
At Least One
Russian electricity cost Finland 365 million euros ($497 million) last year and accounted for three-quarters of all imported electricity, the statistics office said.
Finance Minister Katainen is at odds with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen’s Centre party, which is pushing for a mixture of new nuclear power and renewable energy. Economy Minister Mauri Pekkarinen, a Centre Party member, has said the government is unlikely to issue three new permits.
“We can easily see from the debate what the outcome will be,” said Tapio Litmanen, a sociology professor at the University of Jyvaeskylae in central Finland who has edited a book on the nuclear power industry. “At least one new license will be given.”
Finland, which has four working reactors, was second behind the U.K. among western nations to start building additional nuclear plants following the Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine in 1986.
‘Unnecessary’
Teollisuuden Voima, or TVO, one of the three applicants, is building the country’s fifth reactor, the world’s largest, on the west coast with Areva SA. The original target cost was 3 billion euros, though Areva has set aside 2.3 billion euros for cost overruns, the company said on March 4.
Environmental groups also point to construction delays at the TVO Olkiluoto-3 reactor, set to open three years late in 2012, as an example of the complexities and hazards associated with nuclear energy.
Nuclear power is “unnecessary for Finland at this time,” said Janne Bjoerklund, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation’s nuclear campaign coordinator. “Even one new atomic reactor will make Finland a nuclear power exporter.”
After Finnish electricity consumption fell 7.4 percent last year, the biggest drop since World War II as the recession trimmed output and the forest industry shuttered capacity, critics say that’s evidence new reactors are not needed and the industry’s consumption forecast is too high.
TVO and Fortum, which are partly government owned, have selected sites and waste repository locations for their new plants. Fennovoima, 34 percent owned by E.ON, has narrowed possible locations down to two in northern Finland.
Capacity
E.ON, which runs power plants in Germany, the U.K. and Sweden, posted net income of 5.33 billion euros last year, adjusted to exclude changes in the value of fuel hedging. Shares of the Dusseldorf, Germany-based company have declined 2.5 percent so far this year. E.ON gained 0.5 percent to 28.54 euros as of 11:13 a.m. in Frankfurt.
Finland’s four reactors have a capacity of about 2,700 megawatts. Olkiluoto-3 will produce 1,600 megawatts. The proposed three new reactors would add from 3,500 megawatts to 6,100 megawatts. The government predicts electricity usage of about 100 terawatt hours in 2030, while the Finnish energy industry forecasts it will grow faster.
New power sources are also needed to replace plants that come to the end of their lifespan and are taken offline. Fortum’s two Loviisa reactors will be shuttered in 2027 and 2030. Of Finland’s current power plants, only Olkiluoto-3 and some hydropower plants will be generating electricity in 2050, Finnish Energy Industries’ data shows.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=a2cQVi9S269w&pid=20601087
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