The photo is sourced from tvo.fi
According to TVO, the first two units of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant currently provide 21% of electricity generation in Finland. When the test period is over, the third unit will cover another 19% of the total generation. In addition to intentional voltage and power surges, the testing of the new reactor will include a so-called Fault Ride Through, when the unit operator will simulate emergency actions in the event of a short circuit.
“Today, we have reached a historically important figure on our production monitor. We will now focus on completing the tests according to the commissioning programme and reaching regular electricity production in December,” TVO quotes Marjo Mustonen, Senior Vice President for Electricity Production.
According to IAEA, the third power unit of the Olkiluoto NPP was hooked into the common grid in March 2022. The new reactor was the first one commissioned in Western Europe since 1999, when the second power unit of the Civaux NPP with a capacity of 1,495 MW was put into operation in France. In Eastern Europe (except for the countries outside the EU), the latest commissioning of nuclear generating capacity dates back to 2002, when the second power unit of the Temelin NPP with a capacity of 1,029 MW was connected to the grid in the Czech Republic. Hungary will come as growth point for the industry in the coming years; in 2022, the country started construction of the fifth and sixth power units of the Paks NPP.
In Western Europe, the UK may become one of the leaders in building up the nuclear generating capacity, with Rolls Royce establishing a subsidiary for the commercialisation of small modular reactors, which will be assembled at the manufacturing plant and delivered turnkey to the place of operation. The project is going to be implemented together with investment company BNF Resources and electric power company Exelon Generation. It should reduce high infrastructure costs. The estimated construction costs for nuclear power plants in the EU in 2020 were $6,600 per kilowatt of capacity, exceeding manifold the costs for gas-fired plants ($1,000 per kW) and coal-fired plants ($2,000 per kW), according to an estimate by the International Energy Agency.
