Fortum and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) have announced their investment in a project to build a solar power plant (SPP) with a capacity of 116 MW in the Republic of Kalmykia. The station will become the largest solar energy facility in Russia, the parties informed.
The project will be implemented through a joint venture established by RDIF and Fortum, whose portfolio at the end of 2020 included wind power plants in the Ulyanovsk and Rostov regions with a total capacity of 350 MW. It is expected that the first stage of the SPP, with a capacity of 78 MW, will begin supplying electricity to the wholesale electricity and capacity market (WECM) in the fourth quarter of 2021, and the SPP in Kalmykia will begin full-scale operations in the second half of 2022.
The solar power plant in Kalmykia will be built following the result of a competitive selection of investment projects for the construction of generating facilities using renewable energy sources held in 2018 and 2019.
Fortum is a European energy company supplying its customers with electricity, heating and cooling in more than 40 countries. Together with its subsidiary, Uniper, Fortum ranks third company in Europe in energy production with zero CO2 emission. Fortum shares are traded at Nasdaq Helsinki, Uniper is traded at Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
PJSC Fortum is operating as part of Fortum Corporation's Russia division, which also includes Fortum's interest in TGC-1 (29.5%). The company produces and sells electricity and heat.
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB 1.8 trillion and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 15 countries that total more than $40 billion.
