Vattenfall to buy CHP plant in Hämeenlinna from Fortum

Vattenfall is to buy Fortum’s CHP plant in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The agreement was signed today, 5 September 2006. In October, ownership will be transferred to Vattenfall’s Finnish heat company Vattenfall Kaukolämpö Oy, which will then run the plant.

Hämeenlinna is a CHP plant that generates both electricity (output 65 MW) and district heat (95 MW). “This acquisition is an important part of Vattenfall’s growth strategy for heat in the Nordic region and means that we can now produce heat for our district heating network in Hämeenlinna ourselves. The fact that this is a CHP plant, and thus generates electricity too, is beneficial from the environmental point of view and will make a significant contribution to Vattenfall’s electricity generation capacity in Finland,” says Hélène Biström, Head of Vattenfall Nordic Heat “The main advantage of being able to produce heat ourselves is that this will give us better cost control and enable us to choose the fuel that is cheapest and most environment-friendly. It will make it easier for us to maintain stable and attractive prices for district heat and to meet the challenges posed by the trade in emission rights. For example, we are now investigating the possibility of making further investments to increase the proportion of renewable fuels used.” The plant is currently operated and maintained by a staff of 27. These will now move to Vattenfall, and thus provide a considerable strategic reinforcement of the company’s know-how and expertise. For more information, please contact: Hélène Biström, Head of Vattenfall Nordic Heat, telephone: +46-70-212 66 31. From Vattenfall's Press Office, telephone: +46 8 739 50 10.