Fortum Teams Up with Russia’s Bank GPG for Wind JV

Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum has announced that it is initiating cooperation in wind power generation in Russia with Bank GPB.

For this purpose, 1.3 GW portfolio of wind projects is being transferred from the Fortum-Rusnano Wind Investment fund (50/50 joint venture) to a joint venture recently established with Bank GPB, the company said in an official press release. Upon the transfer, the joint venture of Fortum-Rusnano Wind investment fund will be dissolved, they added.

Fortum holds the investment fund’s most recently (wind auction in September 2021) awarded 1.4 GW of wind capacity for new wind power generation to be commissioned during the years 2025–2027. Fortum and Rusnano continue to assess cooperation for joint future development of this project portfolio, the companies have said.

Fortum claims that it is the largest player on the renewable energy market in Russia with a portfolio of approximately 3.4 GW of wind and solar power parks and development projects, either stand alone or together with its joint ventures with Bank GPB and RDIF. For development of renewables in Russia, Fortum’s maximum equity commitment is RUB 15 billion.

With regards to its projects in Russia, Fortum says the following:

“The 35 MW Ulyanovsk wind power plant that entered the wholesale electricity and capacity market on January 1, 2018, became the first industrial-scale wind farm in Russia.”

“In Russia, Fortum already supplies green energy to the AB InBev and Unilever production facilities, Sberbank, Air Liquide, Shchekinoazot Chemical Company, P&G, and Leroy Merlin. Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) regarding green energy supplies are signed with natural gas supplier Novatek, one of the major steel producers in Russia Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), technology company Baker Hughes, and the global energy company Shell. A bilateral agreement on green energy has been also made with Mosenergosbyt.”

As of today, the company’s total capacity consists of wind and solar power plants and projects, out of which 1.2 GW are operational, 0.3 GW under construction, and 1.9 GW under development.