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Finnish TVO applies for new nuclear plant permission
HELSINKI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Finnish power group Teollisuuden Voima
(TVO) said on Wednesday it had submitted an application to the
Finnish government for a fifth nuclear power plant to be built in the
country.
Construction costs for the new station were estimated at between 10-
15 billion markka ($1.4-2.2 billion), a TVO spokesman told Reuters.
Timo Rajala, chairman of TVO and chief executive of its biggest owner
Pohjolan Voima, said TVO decided to come forward with an application
because parliamentarians are due to discuss general climate policy
next spring.
"Now is the political moment when these issues are discussed," Rajala
said, adding the group wanted to point out its own view on how the
problem of accelerated energy use could be solved.
Mauno Katka, senior adviser at TVO, said that the proposed plant's
electricity generation capacity would be 1,000-1,600 megawatts, with
annual output seen at some 8-12 terawatt hours.
The new plant, if accepted, would be ready in 2008-2010, and by then,
Finland's annual electricity use would have risen to 91 terawatts
from 80 terawatts in 1999, he said.
Nuclear power is currently the biggest source of electricity in
Finland, accounting for some 28 percent of total consumption, but a
fifth reactor would up the share of nuclear power in total
consumption to 35 percent, around the EU average, Katka said.
The central power agency Finergy said Finland could not rely on
electricity imports in the future and that a fifth plant was needed
if Finland was to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions as required by
the Kyoto protocol.
Rajala said the planned project would be funded by TVO's and Pohjolan
Voima's own financing, with the other shareholders only paying for
the electricity the plant would generate.
"The financing is not a big deal," he said.
TVO's main owners are energy group Fortum <FUM1V.HE> and Pohjolan
Voima, whose biggest shareholders are forestry groups UPM-Kymmene
<UPM1V.HE> and Stora Enso <STERV.HE> as well as U.S.-based TXU
<TXU.N>.
Stora Enso has said it will sell its TVO stake.
LONG, HARD NUCLEAR DEBATE EXPECTED
The fate of the proposal is now uncertain, but a lengthy discussion
expected to cause strains both between and inside parties is likely
to last for at least a year.
The five-party government coalition, which includes the anti-nuclear
Green Party, will now examine the proposal and either pass it on to
parliament or reject it.
If passed to parliament, the proposal would most likely be voted on,
with a split seen inside parties as parliamentarians would not be
obliged to follow a general party line.
The Greens have earlier said they would withdraw from government if
parliament grants permission for another nuclear plant to be built.
Many politicians have said if the proposal is not now accepted, it
could be the death knell for future reactor applications.
The industry's last attempt for more nuclear power was in March 1986,
when an application was issued by group formed by Imatran Voima --
now part of Fortum -- and TVO, but it was put on ice following the
Chernobyl catastrophe the following month.
After a lengthy debate, the parliament finally voted on a fifth
nuclear plant in September 1993, with opponents of the plan winning
the vote 107-90.
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