700,000 euros to support research and development in the energy area

Fortum Foundation's grants 2007

Fortum Foundation's 2007 grant ceremony was held in Keilaniemi, Espoo on March 13, 2007. The Board of the Foundation awarded 39 new grants for 2007 totalling 463 050 euros. A total of 345 550 euros were awarded for graduate studies and 19 500 euros for basic studies. 48 500 euros were awarded for other individual purposes and 49 500 for specific projects. In addition, 15 graduate research projects initiated during the years 2004-2007 received additional funding. Totally the Board approved nearly 700 000 euros of funding for 2007, an increase of 25 percent compared to 2006. A complete list of the new grants will be shortly published on the Foundation's home page www.fortum.fi/saatio.

The Chairman of The Board of Fortum Foundation Mikael Lilius opened the ceremony, where after Esa Lindgren, Vice President, Neste Jacobs Ltd held a presentation titled "The importance of process simulation in oil refining processes" and Jukka Ruusunen, CEO, Fingrid Ltd, a presentation titled "Challenges for the European energy market from the perspective of a transmission system operator". The new receivers of grants then received a diploma from Mikael Lilius and the Foundation's ombudsman Jan-Erik Österholm. The ceremony ended with a buffet.

Fortum Foundation's objective is to support research and development in the energy area in order to increase the knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms governing a sustainable development and to create new and sustainable solutions in the areas of energy production and the use of energy as well as in the area of energy solutions for traffic.

Fortum Foundation

Further information: Jan-Erik Österholm, tel. +358 10 45 23412.