Siemens and Orano (formerly Areva) have agreed to pay €450m to settle their dispute with the Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) over the delay in the construction of the 1,650 MW Olkiluoto-3 (OL3) nuclear power plant project in Eurajoki (Finland). TVO will pay back up to €150m if the facility is ready by May 2019, otherwise an additional compensation of up to €400m will have to be paid by Siemens and Orano.
The OL3 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 approximately 10 years behind schedule, with commissioning planned in May 2019.
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.