Our public event in Kemijärvi pulled a crowd and stirred a lively debate

First, CEO of Kemijoki Oy Tuomas Timonen discussed the importance of pumped storage power for Finland and Lapland. Petri Vihavainen, Vice President, Electricity markets and strategy, then gave an introduction to the need for regulating power as well as the benefits of Kemijoki Oy’s pumped storage power plant project for Finnish electricity users. Our environmental impact assessment (EIA) consultant AFRY presented the initial EIA results concerning Lake Kemijärvi’s water system modellings as well as nature and other inventories.

The total length of the public event was 2.5 hours. The last hour was spent on face-to-face discussions in smaller groups. Nine Kemijoki Oy experts attended the event on site, providing answers to Kemijärvi residents’ questions and concerns. In addition, the event participants were able to talk to two experts from AFRY.

We will finalise the environmental impact assessment report during the spring

During the spring, we will finalise the EIA report, which summarises the impact assessment made based on the assessments presented in the EIA programme. We will present the results at public events in Kemijärvi this spring.

In May, we will submit the EIA report on the project to the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Lapland (ELY Centre), which acts as the coordinating authority. The Lapland ELY Centre will publish the EIA report and its appendices, communicate about the pendency of the report as well as collect opinions and statements on the project. The EIA procedure is planned to be completed in the late summer of 2025.

We are available for meetings every week in Kemijärvi. We will announce our schedule for the spring in the Koti-Lappi newspaper and on our website.

Additional Information

Petri Vihavainen
Vice President, Electricity markets and strategy
Kemijoki Oy
Email petri.vihavainen@kemijoki.fi
Phone +358 20 703 4443