Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 wins an operating licence

TVO says that the reactor will start adding power to the grid in January 2020, a full 11 years after the project was initially scheduled to be finished. Once active, OL3 will add 1.6 GW of capacity to the output supplied by the country’s four other nuclear reactors. 

The new power station will also increase the share of nuclear power in Finland’s energy mix from approximately one third to 40%, once it comes online. 

Advocates say that the new unit will help to reduce the country’s reliance on imported electricity – nearly half of Finland’s energy is presently imported, primarily from Russia. OL3 may also help with energy security by mitigating the loss of hydroelectric generation during dry years – when the Nordic electricity system experiences shortages. 

It is also suggested that OL3 will help Finland meet its emissions targets. According to Marjo Mustonen, Senior Vice President of Electricity Production at TVO: ‘OL3 will make it the greatest single action for the benefit of the climate in Finnish history’ by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Finland’s electricity generation. 

It will allow the country to reduce the amount of coal and gas currently used in the energy mix, helping it to meet its aim of ending coal use by 2030. 

The grant follows a long and troubled history for the reactor, which has suffered controversies, delays and funding issues. Originally scheduled to become operational in 2009, this date was pushed back as several key components had to be remade after failing to meet safety standards.

Disagreements between TVO and its suppliers, a consortium consisting of Siemens and Areva, pushed the project further back in time and more than doubled its initial €3bn budget. In March 2018, TVO and Areva settled a long-running dispute over the troubled project’s delays, with Areva paying TVO €450mn in compensation. 

Projects elsewhere which utilise the same European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) design have experienced similar scheduling and financial problems. EDF’s reactor at Flamanville, France, is currently three times over budget and its start-up is delayed until 2020. 

Two EPRs received final approval in September 2016 for construction at Hinkley Point power station in the UK.