Fennovoima Oy, the Finnish company building the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear plant, recorded losses of €7.4m ($7.9m) in 2016, but because the plant is not yet operational there was no turnover to report. This compared to losses of €5m in 2015 and €4.6m in 2014.
The company said in its annual report that it had operating expenses and capitalised costs of €74.9m and total assets of €1.3bn. The company said its liquidity position is “good”. Costs related to environmental issues such as research, permits and the environmental impact assessment in 2016 were €900,000 compared with €500,000 in 2015.
In January 2017 Fennovoima said the Hanhikivi project was on schedule with a supplier of the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems to be chosen this year and commercial operation scheduled for 2024. Hanhikivi 1 will be a VVER-1220 AES-2006 pressurised water reactor supplied by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom. The Hanhikivi site, south of the town of Oulu in northern Finland, is big enough for a further reactor, although Fennovoima has made no decision on a second unit.
Hanhikivi 1 is being built using the ‘Mankala’ principle, a business model used in the Finnish electricity sector. Shareholders are responsible for the fixed costs of the power company, including servicing of debt. In return, shareholders have the right to purchase the electricity produced, at cost, in accordance with their respective share in the company. Industrial shareholders use the electricity for themselves and electric companies sell it to customers.
