The Meri-Pori power plant was commissioned in 1994 and is currently Finland’s only coal-fired condensing plant. From 2017-2022, the plant was part of the peak-load reserve system in Finland. The plant currently operates on the electricity market on a commercial basis. The deployment of actual electricity production depends on the electricity market situation at that time. The Meri-Pori plant will not be used to generate electricity at a loss. In practice, the price of electricity must remain high enough for a long enough period of time to make it commercially feasible to start up and run the plant.
Fortum and coal
Efforts to reduce the use of coal have been underway for years, and its use in Finland will end in 2029. An accelerated phase-out of coal-fired generation is also a strategic target for Fortum. This has naturally influenced the company’s decisions to make the modernisations needed for commercial use of the Meri-Pori plant.