Fortum Energy Group Plans to Sell Its Asset in Chelyabinsk Oblast

23.06.2009 — News

THE CHELYABINSK OBLAST.

OAO Fortum (ex TGK-10) is going to sell the Argayash cogeneration plant, which supplies energy to FGUP PO Mayak and a closed town of Ozersk. Both Mayak and Ozersk are a part of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation. Fortum, a Finnish energy corporation which holds a 93.4% share in OAO Fortum, decided to reduce its share of coal assets in the structure of its Russian assets.

Currently the company is negotiating with prospective buyers. If the deal is closed, it may become the first sale of a cogeneration plant since the Russian energy industry reform. In the course of this reform RAO UES Russia's generating assets were purchased by private investors. Nevertheless, the experts think that the deal is unlikely to be made in the current economic situation.

Upon buying TGK-10 in March 2008, Fortum paid around 700 dollars for every kilowatt of the plant's rated capacity. The Argayash power plant with a capacity of 195 megawatt is worth about 25-40 million dollars. In equivalent to the rated capacity the price per 1 kilowatt won't exceed 200 dollars. However, it is highly unlikely that even at such a low price there will be a buyer with enough money to acquire the plant.

According to the experts interviewed by RusBusinessNews, generating companies currently focus on their own investment commitments and the state company InterRAO is interested in buying only consolidated assets, not single plants. The experts assume that the redistribution of generating assets in Russia between the investors in accordance with their regional characteristics and the type of fuel used is inevitable, but the process won't begin until the credit market restores.

OAO Fortum operates in the Urals and Western Siberia. The total rated capacity of the company and its affiliates equals about 3,000 megawatts for electric power and more than 13,600 gigacalories per hour for heat energy.