Fortum Blames Oskarshamn Closures For Third Quarter Fall In Profits

22 Oct (NucNet): Finnish utility Fortum today reported third-quarter profits below expectations, strongly burdened by a non-recurring impact from the decision by OKG’s extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to close two of the oldest Oskarshamn nuclear units in Sweden before the end of their planned operational lifetimes. Fortum said comparable operating profit for July-September fell 46 percent from a year ago to €79m ($89.5m). Fortum said earlier this month that it expected to take an estimated €700m loss in the third quarter of 2015 because of the planned closure of Oskarshamn-1 and -2. Fortum owns approximately 45.5 percent of the three-unit Oskarshamn station, but E.On is the majority owner and is shutting Units 1 and 2 earlier than planned because they are unprofitable. OKG is owned by E.On, Fortum and Karlstad municipality, with E.On the majority shareholder. Fortum also said that as a result of the nuclear stress tests in the EU, the Swedish nuclear safety authority (SSM) has proposed new regulations for Swedish nuclear reactors. Fortum said the process is ongoing, but said it considers EU-level harmonisation of nuclear safety requirements to be of “utmost importance”.