Olkiluoto 3 nuke plant starts power production

The electricity production of Olkiluoto’s third nuclear power plant (OL3) unit started on Saturday, said the owner of the plant Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) in a press release.

The plant unit has been connected to the national grid at 12.01 p.m. at a power output of 103 MW.

The OL3 significantly improves Finland’s electricity self-sufficiency and helps in achieving carbon neutrality goals.

During the about four-month test production phase, the OL3 plant unit’s power output will be gradually increased to 1,600 MW.

This output is considerable; approximately 3-4 terawatt hours during the test production phase, which corresponds with about 10 percent of Finland’s electricity demand. The power output varies considerably during test production.

“The start of electricity production has been carefully prepared for, and this is a great demonstration of our expertise. OL3 is a significant addition to clean electricity production in Finland, the share of which will rise to over 90 percent. At the same time, the need for the import of electricity will decrease to below half,” said Senior Vice President of Electricity Production, Marjo Mustonen.

OL3’s regular electricity production starts in July 2022. Once regular electricity production has started, OL3 will produce about 14 percent of Finland’s total electricity consumption.

“The start of electricity production is a central milestone in our joint project with the plant supplier Areva-Siemens. Now, we will continue the test production by gradually increasing the plant unit’s power output and prepare for the start of regular electricity production,” said OL3 Project Director, Jouni Silvennoinen.