Phonetically complicated names are translated quite exquisitely: Pyhäjoki means holy river and Hanhikivi – a goose made of stone. The Pyhäjoki community is a small village of 5000 inhabitants, only 4 of them Russian. However, the locals are already getting used to Russian visitors. The Rosatom representatives have been visiting the place the whole autumn, preparing contract documentation, evaluating the project, doing site analysis.
Fennovoimа, the project operator, was choosing the site from four options; the rivalry was pretty tough, as Fins say. Any municipality would like to have it on its territory, since Hanhikivi is the major Finnish investment project, with its cost of EUR 4-6 billion; its realization would provide a long-term development for the region. Pyhäjoki has won, which makes its governor Matti Soronen very proud of the fact. Mr. Soronen has been the municipal manager for three years and he really welcomes the participation of Rosatom in the project. “Most of us gladly accepted the news about the nuclear plant”, – he said. – The correlation of supporters and detractors was about 70/30”.
Mr. Soronen has a big family with 12 children: 8 sons and 4 daughters. Families like this here are not rare. It is very likely that many today’s teens will choose atomic energy as their future profession. “We know how important it is to have a consistent income, so I can easily imagine one of my children, or may be not just one, working at the Hanhikivi in the future”, – says the governor.
A picturesque place
Finland incurs a deficit of electric energy, partly buying it from abroad, including Russia. Experts believe that to satisfy the country’s needs they would need 1,5 GW of power more. For now they are talking about one unit of Hanhikivi, but there is possibility of building one more.
“The future site is quite plain, the ground is rocky, – says Alexander Ranev, Rusatom Overseas technical expert. – It’s good that the site ground is solid, no chance of earthquakes”.
Another advantage is easy access to water. Water resources are by no means restricted; the site is situated on the Gulf of Bothnia coast. The scenery here is beautiful, the bottom is stiff, the surface is flat with no visible changes of terrain, also there is a forest. “As for power delivery, – Renev continues, – the power transmission line is close, so this won’t be a problem either”. The site preparation is planned to start as early as the next year, while the first power will be delivered 10 years after, in 2024. In Fennovoima they say that in summer 2015 they are planning to apply for the construction license. The site works will be in process in order to start the construction as soon as the regulator gives the approval.
Ready for STUK
“We are going to do several things at the same time: conduct negotiations, acquire a stake in the project, sign EPC-contract, fuel supply contract, service contract and many other”, – says Vyacheslav Ivanov, Rusatom Overseas’ Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance. He believes the project will provide contracts for many organizations of the industry: “The sum of each contract may reach EUR 5-7 billion which means about EUR 20 billion in contracting orders for all companies of the Rosatom perimeter. We are going to handle the project in a way to keep the turnover within the industry”. Some localization, however, is also looked forward to, suggesting inviting Finnish companies for mounting and construction works. The news that Fennovoima started negotiations with Rosatom on the Hanhikivi project was first spread this summer. While now, at the end of autumn, the parties are almost ready to shake on it. Anastacia Zoteeva, Rusatom Overseas Executive Vice-Director notes, that the negotiations have been held in a good pace: ”We had time limits since our Finnish partners had spent two years negotiating with other contractors, however never had come to an agreement”. The project is strategically important for Rosatom, since the matter is entering Northern Europe and working with the major regulator – STUK (Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority). “Successful realization of this project is no less important than licensing in Great Britain”, – adds Anastacia Zoteeva.
In Rusatom Overseas they say that the project’s profitableness is quite fair even with the most conservative estimations – for instance, if to sell energy almost at its cost price. As for work with the Finnish regulator, let us not forget, that this was the stumbling rock for the French Areva, while doing the Olkiluoto project. Mrs. Zoteeva is sure that they will be able to find common ground with STUK. “What we need here is maximum openness and the ability to listen and to hear”.
