Finnish power generation company Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has provided an updated schedule for the commissioning of the 1,650 MWe Olkiluoto-3 (OL3) nuclear power project in Eurajoki (Finland), which will be delayed by a further four months as commissioning tests are taking much more time than expected. The Areva-Siemens consortium will load fuel into the reactor core in June 2019 and the first connection to the grid is scheduled to take place in October 2019. Eventually, OL-3 will begin regular electricity production in January 2020.
The OL-3 European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) project is being built by a consortium of Areva GmbH, Areva NP (now Orano) and Siemens under a fixed-price turnkey contract. The project has been hit by repeated delays, court disputes and rising costs. Initially planned to start in 2009, the new reactor will be completed more than 10 years behind schedule.
TVO originally claimed €2.6bn from the Areva-led consortium, which has filed a counter-claim of €3.5bn. In November 2017, TVO received a final and binding partial award under the framework of the ongoing International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration proceeding. In March 2018, TVO agreed a settlement with Areva-Siemens, which will pay TVO compensation of €450m (the consortium is entitle to receive an "incentive payment" of up to €150m for on time commissioning).