The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilises the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition
Regular electricity production has started at Olkiluoto 3 EPR. (Credit: Teollisuuden Voima Oyj)
The electricity production volume of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant unit is a significant addition to clean, domestic production. The plant unit will produce energy for at least the next 60 years.
– The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilises the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition. The electrification of the society continues and environmentally friendly electricity production is undoubtedly one of the top trump cards that Finland has, says President and CEO Jarmo Tanhua.
OL3 makes Finland almost self-sufficient. As Finland’s greatest climate act, it will also accelerate the move towards a carbon-neutral society.
– This is a historical day, the benefits that we promised OL3 would bring to the Finnish society are realised. I am proud of all the nuclear professionals involved in the project, underlines Marjo Mustonen, Senior Vice President for Electricity Production.
OL3 produces electricity at ca. 1600 Megawatt (MW). The plant unit is intrinsically operated at full power output. The first annual outages will take place in March 2024.
In the Olkiluoto 3 project, people were employed from more than 80 different countries. At its highest, manpower on the site was 4,500. The nuclear test production phase alone comprised some 3,300 tests with more than 9,000 test reports collated. The project had a significant impact on regional economy, particularly in the Satakunta region.
When the project was launched, nuclear power was supported by about 60 percent of Finns. At present, the popularity of nuclear power is on record level with 83 percent in favour.
The contractual end of the Olkiluoto 3 project will occur once the analyses from the latest test production phase are completed and TVO is in a position to make appropriate decisions on the acceptance of the plant unit and the start of commercial operation. These decisions will be made in the near future.
The OL3 EPR plant supplier consortium has been constructing the plant unit under a fixed-price turnkey contract. The supplier consortium companies, AREVA GmbH, AREVA NP SAS, and Siemens AG, have joint and several liability for the contractual obligations until the end of the guarantee period of the plant unit.
Source: Company Press Release