Main machinery for Fingrid’s new reserve power plant ordered from Ansaldo Energia

Fingrid signed today a contract worth approx. 75 million euros with the Italian company Ansaldo Energia concerning the main power units for a new 240 MW reserve power plant. The installation of the gas turbine machinery will commence in 2011, and the plant will be complete in early autumn 2012. The reserve power plant will be built in Forssa.

One of the foremost tasks of the transmission system operator Fingrid is to ensure the system security of the Finnish power system. In order to do this, Fingrid maintains power reserves by signing contracts with industries and power producers. Fingrid also owns some reserve power plants. The fast disturbance reserve secures the power system balance for example in the event of disturbances in generation plants.

The need for Fingrid’s fast disturbance reserve will grow in the near future when new large generating units are connected to the Finnish power system. This is why Fingrid has made a decision to build a new reserve power plant and hence to add to the disturbance reserves. The contract signed today is related to the largest procurement for Fingrid’s new reserve power plant, the main machinery. The supply contract of some 75 million euros for the machinery was signed today with Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. Ansaldo Energia won the tough international competitive bidding.

The decisive factors in the competition comprised price, operating costs, and quality guaranteed by the supplier. The output of the power plant is about 240 MW in ten minutes from the starting. In addition to the main machinery, there are also separate purchases such as the fuel tanks, pumping station devices and pipelines for the storage and transfer of fuel, and transformers and other electrical equipment. The project also encompasses construction and installation contracts. The total budget of the project is approx. 125 million euros.

Power plant in Forssa

Fingrid examined several potential locations for the reserve power plant and decided to build the plant in Forssa. The strengths of Forssa include its central location in terms of electricity consumption and good connections to the nation-wide grid. Installation work for the main machinery will commence in September 2011. The reserve power plant will be ready in the early autumn of 2012. Further information:

Jukka Ruusunen, CEO, tel. +358 (0)30 395 5140
Juha Pikkupeura, Project Manager, tel. +358 (0)30 395 4169