Finnish power company Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has postponed again the commissioning of the 1,650 MWe Olkiluoto-3 (OL3) nuclear power project in Eurajoki (western Finland) to July 2020 because the modification outage works are not progressing as expected, while the commissioning date was scheduled in January 2020. Nuclear fuel will be loaded into the reactor in January 2020 and the first connection to the grid will take place in April 2020, allowing for regular power generation to start in July 2020.
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. 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. Upon completion, it will be operated by TVO.