Christmas storms brought widespread power outages and cost Fortum approximately 45 million euros
Espoo, Finland, 2012-01-05 08:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE
5.1.2012
The storms that hit on 26 December 2011 caused considerable damage to the power
grids and exceptionally long outages for Fortum's customers. In addition, the
storms are estimated to have cost Fortum a total of approximately EUR 35
million in Finland and EUR 10 million in Sweden. Fortum will pay its customers
in Finland compensation of EUR 17 million and customers in Sweden compensation
of EUR 6,4 million for the electricity outages. The amount of compensation
depends on the length of the outage and is in accordance with the authorities'
orders. In addition, Fortum has had to repair its power grid in many locations.
The costs caused by the storm will be booked in the fourth quarter 2011 results
of Fortum's Distribution businesses.
The 26 December storm, the strongest in 30 years in Finland, and the smaller
storm on the following day caused major damage to Fortum's power grid mainly in
southern, western and south-western Finland. At the worst, more than 190,000
Fortum customers were simultaneously without power. In addition to Finland, the
storms also caused some power outages and damage also in Sweden.
During the first 24 hours following the storm, electricity was restored to
100,000 customers and during the second 24-hour period to 30,000 customers.
Since then, electricity has been restored to more than 20,000 customers every
day. Fortum has engaged all resources available for repairs, with as many as
750 people, including contractors, working on storm repairs. Repairing of the
power grid can be done only by authorized and professional personnel.
On Wednesday, 4 January 2012, Fortum finished repairs of the medium-voltage
grid damage that caused the most outages. Repairs of the low-voltage grid are
ongoing in order to restore the electricity connections to the remaining 1,500
customers. Difficult weather conditions have slowed the repairs in some areas.
Fortum's target is to restore electricity to all of its customers in permanent
residential buildings on Friday, 6 January 2012, at the latest.
Fortum has more than 600,000 distribution customers in Finland and close to
900,000 distribution customers in Sweden.
For additional information, please contact:
Timo Karttinen, Executive Vice President, Electricity Solutions and
Distribution Division, tel. +358 104 536 555
Fortum Corporation
Corporate Communications
Fortum
Fortum's purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future
generations. We provide sustainable solutions that fulfil the needs for low
emissions, resource efficiency and energy security, and deliver excellent value
to our shareholders. Our activities cover the generation, distribution and
sales of electricity and heat as well as related expert services.
Fortum's operations focus on the Nordic countries, Russia, Poland and Baltic
Rim area. In the future, the integrating European and fast-growing Asian energy
markets provide additional growth opportunities. In 2010, Fortum’s sales
totalled EUR 6.3 billion and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.8 billion.
We employ approximately 10,500 people. Fortum’s shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX
Helsinki.
www.fortum.com
