Company board chairman Andras Szep told a news conference that construction of a 300-mln-euro ($372-mln) undersea high-voltage power line connecting the Leningrad Nuclear Power Station to the Finnish town of Kotka would begin at the end of this year.
United Power is majority owned by Russia's Baltenergo, a St. Petersburg-based subsidiary of state-owned nuclear power generating monopoly Rosenergoatom. The other major shareholders are Finnish energy and investment firms.
Under the 15-20 year contract, Basel AB, majority owned by Finnish industrial firms, will buy around 90% of the electricity supplied by the power line, Szep said.
The project, proposed by Baltenergo, envisages construction of two 150-km power-line legs, each of 1,000-MW capacity.
At the news conference, Baltenergo board chairman Ivan Kuznetsov said state-owned nuclear power contracting firm Rosatomstroi could serve as general contractor for the project.
A 900MW thermal power plant will be also built in the Leningrad region at cost of 600 mln euros ($745 mln) as part of the project. A tender for construction will be announced later this year, Kuznetsov said, adding that his company would not seek investment from Russia's Investment Fund.
"We always planned that the project would not require budget funds. In view of existing contracts for deliveries, we can easily attract credit," he said.
Through the project to link Russia's power network with neighboring Finland, 8.7 billion KW/h of electricity will be supplied annually.
