Fortum and Lietuvos Energija announce waste-to-energy CHP plant in Lithuania

Fortum and Lietuvos Energija will form a joint venture to build a waste-to-energy combined heat and power plant (CHP) in Kaunas, Lithuania. The CHP plant, which will produce annually approximately 500 GWh heat and 170 GWh electricity, is expected to be commissioned in the autumn 2019.

UAB Fortum Heat Lietuva will be a minority owner of the new joint venture, UAB Kauno kogeneracinė jėgainė (KKJ) with up to 49% share. The total investment cost of the plant is approximately €150 million (US$170 million), of which Fortum's direct commitment is approximately €20 million. The establishment of the joint venture is subject to EC merger clearance. The decision is expected by end of 2015. 

According to current plans, the new plant will use annually approximately 200,000 tons of local municipal waste to produce heat to Kaunas city district heating network, which serves approximately 111,000 households and 3,500 businesses.

Vitalijus Žuta, head of UAB Fortum Heat Lietuva, stated:

"The new waste-to-energy plant continues Fortum's investments in the Baltic countries in energy-efficient CHP technology using local fuels. It is also in line with the National Energy Independence Strategy in Lithuania. We have very good experiences from our first waste-to-energy plant in Klaipeda, Lithuania, which has been in operation since spring 2013."