HVDC Russia-Finland
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The HVDC Russia-Finland (also: Kernovo-Mussalo cable) is a planned 1000 MW HVDC submarine power cable between Kernovo, Leningrad Oblast (Russia) and Mussalo, Kotka (Finland).
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[edit] Technical features
The capacity of submarine cable will be 1000 MW and it provides a possibility to transmit up to 8.7 billion kW per hour of electricity. There will be two strings of ironclad cables, at the distance of 50-100 m from each other, and also one ground metal cable.
One possible alternative says that the 1000 MW cable could be replaced with two 500 MW cables connecting Kernovo with different destinations in Finland. Other considered destinations in Finland are Loviisa, Sipoo, Espoo and Inkoo. The cable would be linked with the Sosnovyi Bor nuclear power plant. Overall cost of the project is 300 million euro. The financing agreement of project has signed with Russia's state-run foreign economic bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) in June 2006. The pay-off period of the project is 6 to 9 years. Approximate time of construction completion is 2009-2010.
[edit] Background
The cable has originally suggested back in the 1990s by the Russian state nuclear power company Rosenergoatom. In 2004, Finland based company United Power Oy, controlled by Baltenergo, the subsidiary of Rosenergoatom, submitted an official application for the submarine cable and a transformer station. The main purpose of this project is to export Russian nuclear energy to Sweden and Finland. There are preliminary agreements of electricity supply for 15 years between United Power and BasEl, representing 16 Swedish and Finnish companies.
[edit] Controversy
The project is backed by the Russian Government and supported by Finnish and Swedish industries. At the same time, it's criticized by the Finnish national transmission grid operator Fingrid and also by some Russian energy companies. The Russian Federal Grid Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of UES RAO, has stated that the St Petersburg region especially is suffering from undercapacity, and the sea cable will worsen the current situation, as electricity would go abroad instead of to the Russian regions. CEO of UES RAO, Anatoly Chubais has said that the project is unrealistic, and possibly even non-profitable. The Finnish concerns related to the Finnish grid ability to adapt the Russian power transmission and with amount of necessary investments into transmission grid. Fingrid says that the regional grid in the southeast of Finland is operating at maximum capacity, and could not handle the additional power.
The point of view of some Nordic ecological NGO's is that the power generated in Sosnovy Bor is not suitable to be used because this nuclear power plant is old-fashioned and could pose an environmental threat.
United Power’s argues that the sea cable would increase competition at the Finnish energy market and will decrease electricity prices by 6-8%.
The project needs approval by the Finnish Government, which not given yet. The decision is expected in 2006.
