The Russian state-owned company stressed that the project has progressed well and the cooperation between the participants has gone well, adding that the decision was made unilaterally, without raising RAOS Power.
“We reserve the right to defend our rights in accordance with applicable treaties and laws.”
Fennovoima on Monday announced The decision to terminate the nuclear power plant supplier agreement with Rosatom, saying that the delays in the RAOS Project, a subsidiary of Rosatom that supplied the plant, is so significant that its ability to complete the project is questionable.
The Finnish nuclear energy company also drew attention to the growing risks associated with the project due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to the CEO, everyone at Fennovoima is sad and disappointed Joachim Specht. “This is not what we wanted to do. We wanted to carry out this project. Needless to say, we will not achieve this with this regulation,” he said at a news conference in Helsinki.
Although the cooperation with the plant supplier has been terminated immediately and both the design and permitting work on the site have been completed, Rosatom will remain a shareholder in Fennovoima with a holding of approximately 34 percent through RAOS Voima. The rest of the company’s shares are owned by Voimaosakeyhtiö SF, an association of companies of all sizes and municipal energy companies in Finland.
In its press release, Specht acknowledged that the termination of the design, procurement and construction agreement will have a significant impact on Fennovoima’s personnel and supply chain.
“Of course we have people on the payroll, but we now have to follow the change negotiations and reduce our staff significantly until the end of the year. How many are left on the payroll? It is too early to give accurate or credible figures on this, “he added at the news conference.
Another focus of the company is on site protection, according to Specht.
“Keeping a seat, of course, means first suspending our formal activities [engineering, procurement and construction] the contractor and, secondly, to decide in a controlled and prescribed manner the activities carried out by Fennovoima itself on the site, such as the erection of an administrative building, ”he said.
“It also has a lot of work to do in gathering relevant site information or relevant information in order to maintain or obtain the highest possible level of information and maintain the site in this condition for possible future action.”
Both Specht and Esa HärmäläThe chairman of Fennovoima’s board stressed that the primary reason for terminating the cooperation was not Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We base our decision on the facts and the fact is that this contract has been suspended due to delays and non-delivery. We have found that the war has increased these risks, Härmälä said.
“It’s not a single event,” Specht reiterated. “It’s been years, and the lack of expertise and delivery has accumulated.”
Härmälä revealed that approximately EUR 600-700 million has already been poured into the project, and each stakeholder has contributed an equivalent share of the nuclear energy company.
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy responded to the news on Monday by thanking for the decision to terminate the supply contract.
“The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labor considers the owner’s decision on the factory supply agreement to be justified and consistent. Termination of the contract is an understandable measure in this situation, “he said press release.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page