NIB finances hydropower plant upgrades and small-scale plant in Finland
The Nordic Investment Bank and Finnish Kuurnan Voima Oy have signed a €10 million (about $12 million) loan for the refurbishment of a hydropower plant and for the building of a new, small-scale hydropower plant in Pielisjoki River, North Karelia, Finland.
The ten-year loan will finance the refurbishment of these turbines, the generator and the automation system in the old plant. In addition, both the dam structure and the waterways will be refurbished.
The total investment amounts to €20 million and includes the construction of an additional, small-scale power plant with two 1MW turbines in the Kuurna spillover channel.
The new Laurinvirta hydropower plant will use 15% of the Kuurna plant’s water flow and has an annual production capacity of 18 MWh, of which approximately 4GWh is additional capacity for the total output of the Kuurna plant produced during floods. This is expected to result in approximately 5,000 tonnes of CO2 emission avoided annually.
