Fortum Oyj is a Finnish

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

energy company located in

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, Finland. It mainly focuses on the

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

region. Fortum operates

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s, including co-generation plants, and generates and sells

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

. 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 Helsinki Nasdaq Helsinki, formerly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange (, ), is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003, it has been part of Nasdaq Nordic (previously called ''OMX''). After the OMX merger, it was referred t ...

stock exchange. As of 2023 Fortum was the third-largest power generator in the Nordics.

History

Imatran Voima (1932–1997)

The predecessor of Fortum was Imatran Voima (IVO), which was founded in 1932 to operate the

Imatrankoski Imatrankoski (The Imatra Rapids) are rapids on the Vuoksi in Imatra, Finland. It has been a famous tourist attraction since the late 1700s. Imatrankoski is also one of the National landscapes of Finland. Since 1929, the rapids has been blocked by ...

hydroelectric power plant in

Imatra Imatra is a city in Finland, located in the southeastern interior of the country. Imatra is located in the region of South Karelia, on Saima, Lake Saimaa and the River Vuoksi. The population of Imatra is approximately , while the Imatra sub-regi ...

. The construction of the Imatra power plant began already in 1922 as well as the power lines from Imatra to Helsinki and the power plant was opened in May 1929.

Finnish Government The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility an ...

made a decision to establish Imatran Voima Osakeyhtiö (IVO) in May 1932. Imatran Voima acquired and built a number of other power plants, such as the largest hydroelectric power plants along the Oulujoki river,

Ingå Ingå (; , ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern coast of the country. Ingå is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Ingå is approximately , while the Raseborg sub-region, sub-region has a popul ...

and Naantali coal-fired powerplants and the

Loviisa nuclear power plant The Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (, ) is located close to the Finnish town of Loviisa. It houses two Soviet-designed VVER-440 Pressurized water reactor, pressurised water reactors, with capacities of 507 MW each. It is one of Finl ...

. In 1997, a merger agreement was made between Neste and IVO.

1998–2010

Fortum Corporation was founded in 1998. It was created from the merging of Imatran Voima and

Neste Oy Neste Oyj (international name: Neste Corporation; former names Neste Oil Corporation and Fortum Oil and Gas Oy; ) is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland. It produces, refines and markets oil products, provides eng ...

, the Finnish national oil company. In 2003, Fortum bought parts of

Fredrikstad Energi Fredrikstad Energi, branded as FEAS is a Norwegian power company that operates in Fredrikstad and Hvaler. The company is owned by the Municipality of Fredrikstad (51%) and Fortum (49%). The company has bought a number of privatized power grid ...

and

Fredrikstad Energi Nett Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in ...

in a swap deal with

E.ON E.ON SE is a European multinational electric utility company based in Essen, Germany. It operates as one of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility service providers. The name originates from the Latin word '' aeon'', derived from ...

. In 2005 most of Neste's assets were divested into a separate stock-listed company

Neste Oil Neste Oyj (international name: Neste Corporation; former names Neste Oil Corporation and Fortum Oil and Gas Oy; ) is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland. It produces, refines and markets oil products, provides ...

. 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 (now: ), operating in central and northern Russia.

2011–2021

In 2011, Fortum sold its 25% stake in the Finnish transmission system operator

Fingrid Fingrid Oyj is a Finland, Finnish national electrical grid, electricity transmission grid operator. It is owned by the Finnish state (53.1%) and various financial and insurance institutions (46.9%). In 2011, power companies Fortum Power and Heat ...

. In December 2013 Fortum announced the sale of its distribution network in Finland to Suomi Power Networks, owned by First State Investments (40%),

Borealis Infrastructure The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is a Canadian public pension fund, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. OMERS is a defined benefit, jointly sponsored, multi-employer public pension plan created in 1962 by Ontario provinci ...

(40%), Keva (12,5%) and LähiTapiola (7,5%). In 2012, Fortum shared the number one position in the Carbon Disclosure Project's Nordic climate index. In 2013, Fortum opened two new CHP utilities using waste as a fuel in

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

, Lithuania, and , Sweden as well as new biomass-fuelled CHP plants in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

, Latvia, and

Järvenpää Järvenpää (; , ; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Järvenpää is situated in the centre of the Uusimaa region in the immediate vicinity of Lake Tuusula. The population of Järvenpää is approximately ...

, Finland. In June, Fortum acquired a 5 MW solar power plant in the state of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In September Fortum signed an agreement with

Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (commonly referred to as Rosatom rus, Росатом, p=rosˈatəm}), also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, (), or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian State corporation (Russia), sta ...

and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

to develop

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

. In 2014 Fortum sold its Norwegian electricity distribution network and also its stakes in Fredrikstad Energi and Fredrikstad Energi Nett to the Hafslund Group. The heat business was sold to iCON Infrastructure Partners II, L.P. fund. Since 2015 the electrical distribution network in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

is owned by

Ellevio Ellevio AB is a Swedish electric power distribution and electrical energy, energy company with headquarters in Stockholm and approximately 1,000,000 customers (2023). The company in its current shape was formed in 2015, when Fortum spun off its S ...

. In 2015 Fortum connected its first greenfield solar park, under the

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission The National Solar Mission is an initiative of the Government of India and State Governments to promote solar power. The mission is one of the several policies of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. The program was inaugurated as the J ...

(JNNSM) Phase II initiative, in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. 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 A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) is a model of resource Production (economics), production and Resource consumption, consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, Reuse, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and ...

company specialised in material and waste recycling, final disposal solutions, soil remediation and environmental construction. In 2017, the 100 MW plant in

Pavagada solar park Shakti Sthala, also called Pavagada Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station, solar park covering an area of in Pavagada, Pavagada taluk, Tumakuru district, Tumkur district, Karnataka. Completed in 2019, the park has a capacity of 2,050 MW. ...

was connected to the grid. It was the first of a series of planned gigawatt-scale plants facilitated by

reverse auction Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media * ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 * ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film * ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film * ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005 * ''Reverse'' ...

s in India. In September, Fortum announced it would buy

's 47% stake in German power company

Uniper Uniper SE is a German multinational energy company based in Düsseldorf, Germany, which has been a state-owned enterprise since late 2022. It is one of the biggest energy companies by revenue in Europe. The name of the company is a portmanteau o ...

. Fortum increased its stake to 75% in spring 2020. Uniper mainly uses oil, natural gas and coal to supply electricity. In 2020 Fortum and

Kværner Kværner was a Norwegian engineering and construction services company that existed between 1853 and 2005. During its initial decades, the firm was involved in the manufacture of cast iron stoves and hydroelectric turbines. The turbine busi ...

informed that they would cooperate on a

Carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial installations is separated before it is released into the atmosphere, then transported to a long-term storage location.IPCC, 2021Annex VII: Glossary at ...

project for waste

incineration Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...

at Klemetsrud energigjenvinningsanlegg. In 2020 Fortum was the biggest company in Finland by its revenue. The majority of its income came from

that became Fortum's subsidiary in March 2020. In 2021 Fortum sold its business in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to

Partners Group Partners Group Holding AG is a Swiss-based global private equity firm with US$152 billion in assets under management in private equity, private infrastructure, private real estate and private debt. The firm manages a broad range of funds, struct ...

Uniper divestment (2022)

On 21 September 2022, Fortum announced that Uniper is to be fully divested to the German state. Under the agreement, Uniper plans to issue 4.7 billion new ordinary registered shares, which the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

plans to subscribe at a nominal value of EUR 1.70 per share. The German state-owned

KfW bank The KfW, which together with its subsidiaries DEG, KfW IPEX-Bank and FuB forms the KfW Bankengruppe ("banking group"), is a German state-owned investment bank, investment and Development finance institution, development bank, based in Frankfurt ...

will provide Uniper with additional liquidity support as required until this EUR 8 billion capital increase is completed. Uniper was thus nationalised by Germany on the 21 September 2022 for 8 billion euros. At completion of the capital increase, the Germans plans to buy all of Fortum's approximately 293 million shares in Uniper for EUR 1.70 per share, i.e. for a total of EUR 0.5 billion. At that point, change of control clause in the financing agreement will be triggered and the buyer will provide the financing for the redemption of Fortum's EUR 4 billion shareholder loan granted to Uniper and the release of the EUR 4 billion parent company guarantee. The parties have also agreed that Fortum will have a right of first offer in case Uniper intends to divest all or parts of its Swedish hydro and nuclear assets until the end of 2026.

2023-present

In April 2023, Fortum's Russian assets were transferred under external management by decree of the

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

, as a response to the confiscation of Russian property in Europe. Fortum considered the decision illegal and wrote off assets from the balance sheet, recording a loss of 1.7 billion euros. In July 2023 Russia announced it was changing the name of the Russian business to ''Forward Energo''. In February 2024 Fortum launched arbitration proceedings against Russia, seeking compensation for its assets seized by Russian authorities.

Operations

Hydropower

Hydropower is one of the most significant renewable electricity production form for Fortum. In 2021 Fortum owned or co-owned over 150 hydropower plants in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

, including power plants on the

Dalälven The Dal River () is a river in central Sweden that flows from the north of Dalarna and runs into the sea in northern Uppland; it is commonly considered to be the southern border of Norrland, however only the last part correlates with Limes Norrla ...

Indalsälven Indalsälven is one of Sweden's longest rivers with a total length of 430 kilometers. Among its tributaries are Kallströmmen, Långan, Hårkan and Ammerån. A total of 26 hydropower plants are placed along its course, making it the third mo ...

and

Ljusnan Ljusnan (from Old Norse: ''Lusn'' — light) is a river in Sweden, which is 440 kilometers long. The river starts in northwestern Härjedalen and then continues throughout the province into Hälsingland all the way to the Bothnian Sea. The bigge ...

rivers in central Sweden and on the

Oulujoki Oulujoki () is a river in North Ostrobothnia, Finland. Its name in Finnish literally means "Oulu River", originally in old Northern Ostrobothnian dialect literally "Flood River". Its origin is Oulujärvi, and its watershed area covers a signif ...

Kemijoki The Kemijoki or Kemi River (, ), with its length, is the longest river in Finland. It runs south through the towns of Kemijärvi and Rovaniemi before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Kemi. Facta 2001, part 8, ''finnish'' At Rovaniemi the Ouna ...

and

Vuoksi The Vuoksi (, historically: "Uzerva"; ; ; ) is a river running through the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The river enters Lake Ladoga in three branches, ...

rivers in Finland.

Nuclear power

In 2021 Fortum owned the

plant in

Loviisa Loviisa (; ; formerly Degerby) is a town in Finland, located on the southern coast of the country. Loviisa is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Loviisa is approximately , while the Loviisa sub-region, sub-regi ...

, Finland. Its nuclear assets also cover Sweden with a 43% share ownership in the

Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant The Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant is one of three active nuclear power stations in Sweden. The plant is about north of Oskarshamn, directly at the Kalmarsund at the Baltic Sea coast and with one active reactor, producing about 10% of the elec ...

and 22% of three

Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Forsmark, Sweden that provides 14% of Sweden's total electricity output, and also the site of the Swedish Final repository for radioactive operational waste. It is operated by a company m ...

s. Furthermore, Fortum owns a 27% stake in the

Teollisuuden Voima Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO; , Industrial Power Corporation) is a Finnish nuclear power company owned by a consortium of power and industrial companies. The biggest shareholders are Pohjolan Voima and Fortum. Olkiluoto The company operates ...

, which operates three nuclear power plants at

Olkiluoto The Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant (, ) is one of Finland's two nuclear power plants, the other being the two-unit Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is owned and operated by Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), and is located on Olkiluoto Island, on t ...

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

Fortum produces and sells heat in

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, operating with 4 plants combining production of

(

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heater, space heating and w ...

) and

electric power Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...

Electricity and heat sales

Fortum sells electricity, electricity products and services to over 2 million consumers predominantly in the Nordics and Poland. In 2014, Fortum closed its 1,000 MW coal power plant at

(Finland) and demolished it in 2020. The company also owns and operates about of district heat network in Finland, in Sweden, in Poland and in Russia.

Solar power

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.

Environmental record

In 2014 Fortum had the biggest market share of

ecolabel Ecolabels (also "eco-Labels") and Green Stickers are labeling systems for food and consumer products. The use of ecolabels is voluntary, whereas green stickers are mandated by law; for example, in North America major appliances and automobiles us ...

led electricity in Finland. Nowadays, they no longer offer ecolabelled electricity in Finland. After acquiring a majority stake in Uniper in 2020, Fortum will become one of the EU's worst emitters of

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

, asserted a report backed by major European environmental groups in 2019.

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

Finland accused Fortum for

greenwashing Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or ...

for continuing and scaling up its fossil fuel business, for example opening (through Uniper) Dateln4 coal-fired power plant in Germany in 2020 and suing the Netherlands on the basis of the

Energy Charter Treaty The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an international agreement which establishes a multilateral framework for cross-border cooperation in the energy industry, principally the fossil fuel industry. The treaty covers all aspects of commercial energy ...

for banning coal.

Social responsibility

In 2023, Fortum became the first business head-quartered in Finland to secure

Fair Tax Mark The Fair Tax Mark is an accreditation awarded by the Fair Tax Foundation Limited, a not-for-profit community benefit society, incorporated 18 February 2014, company number IP032308. It was developed developed by a collaboration of tax justice, co ...

certification. In February 2014, Fortum equipped three schools with solar-powered infrastructure in

Bhilwara Bhilwara () is a city and administrative headquarters in Bhilwara district of the Mewar region of Rajasthan, India. It has been termed as 'Textile city'. History Stone Age tools dating from 5,012 to 200,000 years were found in Bundi and ...

, where they had a solar plant.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Companies based in Espoo Companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Companies in the OMX Helsinki 25 Electric power companies of Norway Electric power companies of Sweden Electricity retailers in Sweden Nuclear power companies of Finland Nuclear power companies of Sweden Energy companies established in 1998 Finnish companies established in 1998 Government-owned energy companies Government-owned companies of Finland