Boliden signs up for Finnish electricity project

Boliden has signed a letter of intent, via its Finnish subsidiary, to form a consortium called Fennovoima, in partnership with Outokumpu, E.ON, Rauman Energia and Katternö. The aim of the consortium is to investigate the preconditions for building a new Finnish nuclear power plant.

“Boliden’s objective, through this project, is to secure long-term electricity supplies for our Finnish smelters. If we are to maintain competitive production, electricity is a raw material of strategic significance. Energy currently accounts for 18 per cent of Boliden’s total costs and our energy requirement is 3.5 TWh,” says Boliden’s President & CEO, Jan Johansson.

According to the letter of intent, one third of the capacity from the plant will be reserved for Finnish industry, one third for local and regional energy companies, and one third for E.ON, which will be the consortium’s biggest partner. Every partner will be allowed to buy a quantity of electricity corresponding to their share in the consortium, at production cost.

The project – which is ultimately dependent on the approval of the Finnish Government and Parliament – has a planned capacity of between 1,000 and 1,800 MW and operations are scheduled to start between 2016 and 2018. Boliden’s proposed share corresponds to 80 MW, or approximately 46 per cent of the energy consumed at the company’s Finnish units – the Kokkola zinc smelter and the Harjavalta copper smelter.