The Russian state-owned group Rosatom has begun construction of the 1.2 GW seventh unit of the Leningrad nuclear power plant, located near St-Petersburg in north-western Russia. Rosatom announced the first pouring of concrete for Leningrad-7, marking the beginning of the main stage of construction for the new VVER-1200 unit. In January 2024, the Russian nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor had issued licences to Rosatom for the construction of Units 7 & 8 of the Leningrad nuclear power plant. Unit 7 is planned for commissioning by 2030.
The Leningrad nuclear power plant is one of the largest in Russia, with an installed capacity of 4.4 GW, and provides more than 55% of the electricity demand of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region, or about 30% of all the electricity in north-west Russia. Leningrad-1 shut down in 2018 after 45 years of operation, while Leningrad-2, also a 1,000 MW RBMK unit, was permanently shut down in November 2020. New VVER-1200 units (Units 5 and 6) were commissioned in 2018 and 2021, while Units 7 and 8 will replace Units 3 and 4 (commissioned in 1980 and 1981), as they are due to be shut in the coming years.
In 2022, nuclear represented 11% of Russia’s installed capacity with 29.5 GW and 19% of its power generation with 223 TWh. More than 5 GW of nuclear capacity is currently under construction and over 32 GW under development in the country.
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