Novatek, Fortum ink wind PPA to power Russian LNG plant

Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier Novatek PAO (MCX: NVTK) will procure wind power from Finnish utility Fortum Oyj (HEL:FORTUM) and its joint ventures (JVs) to secure the power requirements of one of its facilities.

The electricity produced by Fortum’s wind farms in Russia will be used to fully cover the needs of the Vysotsk LNG plant at the port of Vysotsk in Leningrad, Novatek said on Wednesday. Supplies will be made under a power purchase agreement between Fortum and Cryogas-Vysotsk, Novatek's JV with Gazprombank that operates the LNG plant.

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The contract comes on the heels of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the parties in the summer of 2021. According to the statement, it will enable Novatek to lower the Scope 2 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the Vysotsk facility.

“This is an emerging area of activity for us and we are considering various ways of using wind power in our LNG projects,” said Leonid Mikhelson, chairman of Novatek’s management board.

At end-2021, Fortum said it has reached a total capacity of 1,231 MW in its operational renewable energy portfolio in Russia. The Finnish firm builds and operates onshore wind and solar power plants in the country through equally-owned partnerships with Rusnano and sovereign wealth fund RDIF.