The Finnish power group Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has decided to extend test production at the third reactor of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant (1,600 MW OL3 reactor) from 11 December to 25 December 2022 at the earliest, due to detailed investigations related to cracks found on the feedwater pumps. Consequently, regular power generation will be postponed from late January to 6 February 2023 at the earliest.
This new delay in the project adds risks of tensions on the Finnish power market, as Russia stopped exporting electricity to Finland in May 2022 and as neighbouring Sweden has two nuclear reactors unavailable (Oskarshamn 3 shut down for maintenance and Ringhals 4 offline until late February 2023).
TVO started up the project in December 2021, produced first power in March 2022 and launched power testing with full capacity in September 2022. The OL-3 European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) project was built by a consortium of Areva GmbH, Areva NP (now Orano) and Siemens under a fixed-price turnkey contract. Construction started in 2005 for an expected commissioning in 2009. However, the project has been hit by repeated delays, rising costs (from an initial estimate of €3.2bn to around €11bn), and court disputes, and it should be commissioned over 12 years behind schedule.
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