Finland opens its new nuclear power plant 13 years late and with an extra cost of 11,000 million

The Finnish electricity company Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) has launched its new Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor on Tuesday, which is a step prior to the completion of a project that accumulates not only 13 years of delay but multimillion-dollar cost overruns.

OL3, built by a consortium formed by the French group Areva and the German Siemens, is the fifth nuclear reactor in the Nordic country and, once it reaches its full operation, will generate about 14% of electricity from Finland.

As explained by the project director, Jouni Silvennoinen, the new plant, with a capacity of 1,650 megawatts (MW), will begin to generate electricity at 30% of its capacity at the end of next january (approximately 500 MW) and will gradually increase its power until reaching regular production in June 2022.

Marjo Mustonen, Vice President of TVO, said in a statement that “OL3 reflects strong nuclear professionalism and the will to deliver Finland’s greatest climate act.” And it is that the celebration is not for less.

13 years of nightmare and lawsuits

Construction work began in 2005. Then, Olkiluoto 3 symbolized the beginning of a new era in nuclear power generation, incorporating the world’s first European Pressurized Reactor (EPR). It was the first nuclear power plant to be built in a western country since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster (Ukraine), which led many governments to approve the gradual closure of their atomic plants.

Years have passed since the accident and the climate crisis once again put the nuclear alternative on the table due to its energy efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions; countries such as France, the United Kingdom and China opted for build new plants atomic with EPR technology. The new nuclear ‘era’ would, however, turn into a nightmare for the Areva-Siemens contractor consortium.

Numerous setbacks, miscalculations and construction failures since the beginning of the works ruined the initial plans, which included finish the project in 2009 at a preset price of 3,000 million euros. The reality has been different: 13 years of construction more than expected and an estimated final cost of around 11,000 million euros.

The continuous delays led to a legal dispute between TVO and the contractor consortium, who blamed each other for the enduring of the project and brought the dispute to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Finally, local media collect, the parties reached an agreement to close the dispute and They agreed to share the extra costsSo that TVO will have to pay 5.7 billion euros for the new nuclear plant, almost double the initial price, and Areva-Siemens the rest.