Fortum to start construction on Lithuanian energy-from-waste plant in the autumn

Finland-based energy group Fortum has announced that a joint venture to build an energy-from-waste, combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Lithuania is moving forward and construction will start in the autumn.

The €160 million project, based in Kaunas, will have electricity generation capacity of 24MW and thermal capacity of about 70MW. It is a joint venture between state-owned Lietuvos Energija and Fortum, whose formation was announced in October 2015. Lietuvos Energija has a 51% share, while Fortum Heat Lietuva owns 49%.  

The Finnish group said that the joint venture, called Kauno Kogeneracine Jegaine (KKJ), signed contracts for the main equipment and engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPCM) services. The next step is completing the project's engineering and proceeding towards construction. Commissioning is expected in the middle of 2020.

Fortum will commit €27 million directly to the project.