The minister’s blunt response to Pyhäjoki’s alleged connection to the USA

The government wants Finland to have more nuclear power, small and large plants.

In order to facilitate investments, there is a nuclear energy law being discussed in the parliament, which will streamline the permit processing. Possible support for large power plants is also under consideration.

Minister of Environment and Climate responsible for energy matters Sari Multala (kok) points out that despite the current government’s positive attitude towards nuclear power, an investment in a large nuclear power plant focused solely on electricity production seems out of the question right now from the market’s point of view.

At a press conference in Helsinki, the minister highlights the “most important risk” that potential nuclear power operators are thinking about right now.

“Is the demand for electricity growing strongly enough and are there parties that are ready to enter into long-term contracts? The answer is that there are not.”

He emphasizes that the government program already states that all nuclear power applications that meet the criteria will be viewed positively.

American money for Pyhäjoki?

Evening newspaper news on Wednesday that the American energy company Westinghouse would be interested in building a nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki and some kind of discussions would have already taken place with the government as well.

According to the newspaper, “American nuclear power is being planned for Finland”.

Multala does not want to confirm the matter when asked by Kauppalehti. According to him, it is not surprising that there is interest around the finished place.

“There was a lot of untrue information in the story, such as the fact that the project had been prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and the Economy. The government wants to promote all projects that meet the conditions when they come to our desk. It must be taken into account that how nuclear power plants are planned is a complex process,” states Multala.

It is reported from the minister’s staff that they intend to make a request for correction of Iltalehti’s news.

Pyhäjoki’s nuclear power project crashed due to Russian ownership when Russia started a war of aggression in Ukraine. Fennovoima terminated the contract with the Russian Rosatom with in the spring of 2022.

Support is needed

In Kehysriih, the government decided to promote the construction of small nuclear power plants by enabling investment support for small nuclear power plants.

On the other hand, supporting the large power plant is still in progress and under investigation. The government has decided to start preparations for the implementation of the new nuclear power plant’s risk sharing mechanism.

According to Multala, the first part of the risk sharing mechanism is the arrangement of a state guarantee during the construction period.

The second and more difficult is how to support activities during production. In Sweden, a price guarantee has already been decided, but in Finland, consideration of the issue is in progress.

However, in Kehysriih, the government already decided to promote the competitiveness of large-scale nuclear power by including security-of-supply critical energy companies in the scope of the interest rate reduction exception.

Multala emphasizes that, according to a study carried out by the ministry, it is possible to obtain market-based nuclear energy production, but large and small plants intended solely for electricity production need support in risk sharing and “possibly also support during production.”

Supplement at 2:55 p.m.: Added information that the minister’s staff is informed that they plan to make a request for correction of Iltalehti’s story.