Fortum


Fortum Oyj is a Finnish state-owned energy company focusing on the Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland, Russia and India. Fortum operates power plants, including co-generation plants, and generates and sells electricity and heat. The company also sells waste services such as recycling, reutilisation, final disposal solutions and soil remediation and environmental constructions services, and other energy-related services and products e.g. consultancy services for power plants and electric vehicle charging. Fortum is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange.

History

The predecessor of Fortum was Imatran Voima, which was founded in 1932 to operate the Imatrankoski hydroelectric power plant in Imatra. Imatran Voima acquired and built a number of other power plants, such as the largest hydroelectric power plants along the Oulujoki river, Inkoo and Naantali coal-fired powerplants and the Loviisa nuclear power plant. Fortum Corporation was founded in 1998. It was created from the merging of Imatran Voima and Neste Oy, the Finnish national oil company. Most of Neste's assets were divested into a separate stock-listed company Neste Oil in 2005.
In 2007, Fortum acquired 25.66% stake in TGK-1, operating in northwest Russia. In 2008, Fortum privatized the natural gas, power and heat generation company TGK-10, operating in central and northern Russia.
In 2011, Fortum sold its 25% stake in the Finnish transmission system operator Fingrid. In December 2013 Fortum announced the sale of its distribution network in Finland to Suomi Power Networks. Suomi Power Networks is owned by First State Investments, Borealis Infrastructure, Keva and LähiTapiola.
In 2003, Fortum bought parts of Fredrikstad Energi and Fredrikstad Energi Nett in a swap deal with E.ON. In 2014 Fortum sold its Norwegian electricity distribution network and also its stakes in Fredrikstad Energi and Fredrikstad Energi Nett to the Hafslund Group for NOK 1.3 billion. Fortum owns 34% of Hafslund. The heat business was sold to iCON Infrastructure Partners II, L.P. fund. Since 2015 the electrical distribution network in Sweden is owned by Ellevio.
In 2012, Fortum shared the number one position in the Carbon Disclosure Project's Nordic climate index.
In 2015, Fortum completed the divestment of its electricity distribution network in Sweden thus completing the divestment of electricity distribution business. In 2016, Fortum acquired Grupa DUON S.A, an electricity and gas sales company in Poland, and Ekokem Corporation, a leading Nordic circular economy company specialised in material and waste recycling, final disposal solutions, soil remediation and environmental construction.
In September 2017, Fortum announced it would buy E.ON's 47% stake in German power company Uniper, and also make a bid for the remaining 53% held by other shareholders, valuing Uniper at 8 billion Euros. As of October 2017, Uniper's management is opposed to the bid, seeing it as hostile. The deal was completed in June 2018, with Fortum owning 49.99%. Uniper mainly uses oil, natural gas and coal to supply electricity.
Fortum and Kværner cooperate on a Carbon capture and storage project for waste incineration at :no:Klemetsrud energigjenvinningsanlegg|Klemetsrud energigjenvinningsanlegg.

Operations

Hydro power

Hydro power has always been a core activity to Fortum, and is the company's most significant renewable electricity production form. Fortum currently owns or co-owns 159 hydro power plants in Finland and Sweden, totalling about 4,600 MW of production capacity. Hydro power amounts to 48% of the power produced by Fortum in Nordic countries, and 1/3 of the total power produced by Fortum each year. The power plants with the largest capacity are located on the Dalälven, Indalsälven and Ljusnan rivers in central Sweden and on the Oulujoki, Kemijoki and Vuoksi rivers in Finland.
Fortum meets the ISO 14001 norm for preservation of the environment, and the OHSAS 18001 norm for health and safety. The hydro power fleet has benefitted from a stable investment policy: in its ongoing hydro power investment program Fortum has invested about 270 million euros for the modernization of almost 50 hydro power production sites since the early 1990s.

Nuclear power

Fortum has been producing nuclear power since 1977. The company owns the nuclear plant in Loviisa, Finland, which covers around 10% of the country's energy production. Its nuclear assets also cover Sweden with a 45.5% share ownership in the Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant and 22% of Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant. Furthermore, Fortum owns a 26.6% stake in the Teollisuuden Voima, which operates two nuclear power plants at Olkiluoto and is currently building a third one in co-operation with Areva-Siemens consortium. Fortum does not own nuclear power in Russia.
Fortum signed an agreement with Rosatom and British Rolls-Royce Engines, which is not the same company as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars the wholly owned English subsidiary of German automaker BMW, to develop nuclear power in September 2013. The company also offers nuclear safety and waste management services, as well as system supplies for the nuclear power industry. Fortum is also participating in the world's largest decontamination operation of radioactive liquids at the Fukushima disaster cleanup.

Combined production of heat and electric power (cogeneration or CHP)

Fortum produces and sells heat in Nordic countries and Baltic countries, Russia and Poland, with 26 plants combining production of heat and electric power. Fortum is the 5th largest heat producer globally. In 2013, Fortum opened two new CHP utilities using waste as a fuel in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and, Sweden as well as new biomass-fuelled CHP plants in Jelgava, Latvia, and Järvenpää, Finland.

Electricity and heat sales

Fortum sells electricity, electricity products and services to 1.3 million customers in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Poland. In 2014, Fortum closed its 1,000 MW coal power plant at Inkoo and demolished it in 2020. In 2016, the company sold a total of 12.3 terawatt-hours of electricity. The company also owns and operates about 1,200 km of district heat network in Finland, 2,400 km in Sweden, 860 km in Poland, 300 km in the Baltic countries and 480 km in Russia. Heat is being sold in eight countries to companies, municipalities and private customers.

Solar power

In June 2013, Fortum acquired a 5 MW solar power plant in the state of Rajasthan in India. The company has stated that its ambition is to build a small photo-voltaic solar portfolio to gain experience in different solar technologies and in operating in the Indian power market. Fortum also sells solar power kits in the Nordic countries.
In 2015 Fortum has connected its first greenfield solar park, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase II initiative, in Madhya Pradesh.
In 2017, the 100 MW plant in Pavagada solar park was connected to the grid. It's the first of a series of planned gigawatt-scale plants facilitated by reverse auctions in India.

Recycling and waste solutions

Fortum provides environmental management and material efficiency services in the Nordics. Services include recycling, reutilisation, and final disposal solutions, as well as soil remediation and environmental construction services.

Environment

Fortum has the biggest market share of ecolabeled electricity in Finland. With three hydropower plants, seven biomass plants and four wind parks the company has also more EKOenergy certified power stations than any other company in Finland. According to Fortum's own publications it is also the largest seller of Bra Miljöval certified energy in Sweden.
However, after acquiring a majority of Uniper, Fortum has become one of the EU's worst emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, asserts a report backed by major European environmental groups.

Corporate social responsibilities

India

In February 2014, Finnish energy company Fortum has equipped three schools from Bhilwara consists of over 1200 students with solar-powered infrastructure, with an objective to meet the schools' power needs in an efficient and sustainable way. The announcement was made at Fortum's Bhilwara solar plant, in the presence of former President of Finland, Ms Tarja Halonen.
Amidst the heat wave in Rajasthan, where the temperature rises above 45 °C, it is a normal phenomenon to see a drop in attendance and sometimes it goes below 50%.
Fortum's effort has brought relief to the lives of these 1200 students. Today, they can study in a friendly atmosphere and without any interruption. During the summers of 2014, these schools have observed a significant improvement, with approximately 95% attendance every day.
This initiative was a part of Fortum's corporate social responsibility and its contribution to the development and well-being of the local society. This initiative has also inherited the sense of energy utilisation among these young citizens, and made them understand the values that solar energy can bring into the society.