Finnish utility Fortum Corporation's President and CEO Pekka Lundmark has announced his decision to leave the company. He will stay on till the end of August 2020. Lundmark is leaving to take up again a president and CEO position in telecommunications company Nokia.
At the helm of affairs since 2015, Lundmark said the opportunity he has been offered in another company was 'too attractive to pass'.
Company's Chairman of the Board of Directors Matti Lievonen thanked Lundmark for his work saying, "During this time, Fortum has determinedly executed a strategy that drives the change for a cleaner world. Fortum has grown in CO2-free energy and circular economy and is the largest electricity retail company in the Nordics. Further, Fortum is well on its way to become one of Europe's largest energy companies through its investment in Uniper." He added, "At the same time, the group's financial performance has clearly improved and Fortum achieved its long-term financial targets, delivering consistent value to its shareholders and all stakeholders."
Fortum claims to be a clean energy company and has committed to 'investing heavily' in solar and wind power, but relies on nuclear power and hydro power to provide 'reliable production' as well as coal in Germany. Till the end of 2018, it had 220 MW of operational solar power capacity in the form of 7 plants in India and Russia with another 360 MW under development.
Lundmark is leaving the state-owned corporation at a time when environmental activists are up in arms against Fortum's involvement in a new coal power plant, Datteln 4, in Datteln Germany through Uniper, an Eon spin off, which took the coal and gas generation assets of Eon. The Finnish company has announced in 2019 to increase its stake in Uniper to over 70%. Greenpeace activists projected Lundmark's face and the Finnish flag onto the cooling tower at Datteln 4 to register their protest.
Fortum board said they have initiated a recruitment process for Lundmark's successor.
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