Finnish energy group Helen established a nuclear energy programme and preparation for the NPP is now beginning in earnest. CEO Olli Sirka told Helsingin Sanomat that replacing combustion-based power plants is simply not possible without nuclear power. “Too much regulation can make it very expensive,” he said.
Sirkkabelieves that Helsinki will have its own NPP before 2035. Helen first talked about small nuclear power a couple of years ago. Now the company has established a core programme signalling that that the company is serious about building a NPP in the capital that will produce district heating and probably also electricity.
The company has already hired a number of nuclear power experts who are drawing up details of the plant’s design and licensing and plans are being accelerated. Previously, Sirkka talked about the second half of the 2030s and now the aim is for the first half. “I believe that a nuclear power plant will be built in Helsinki before 2035,” he said.
“During this year and next year, we will map all possible sites in the Helsinki area. After that, we look at all possible nuclear power manufacturers. A decision on the plant supplier could be made by the end of 2026,” Sirkka added. Helen already has a letter of intent with domestic small modular reactor (SMR) developer Steady Energy, but according to Sirka, the company is considering all possible SMR suppliers.
“We want to send a message to the manufacturers, but also to the Ministry of Labour & Economy, which is preparing the law, that this is not a dream, but that we are really moving forward with the procurement process. Implementing Helen’s strategy requires a nuclear power plant.” The core of the strategy is to stop all combustion, and according to Sirka, that is not possible without new nuclear power connected to the district heating network.
This would be the last step in the revolution started ten years ago, the aim of which was to stop the huge carbon dioxide emissions from district heating production in Helsinki. The city was heated with coal and the first goal was to stop burning coal by 2030 and replace it with bioenergy. The last coal will be burned in Salmisaari next winter. In the spring, coal will be replaced with wood pellets and electricity. However, even wood burning must end by 2040.
Helen’s old coal-fired power plants have all been modernised. Vuosaari produces district heating and electricity from wood chips and, if necessary, natural gas. In addition, there is thermal storage in the area. An experimental hydrogen production plant is also under construction. In Salmisaari coal will be replaced by pellets and electricity by next spring and a second unit has replaced with electric boilers and an air-to-water heat pump plant. In Hanasaari, the coal-fired power plant was closed in 2023. Next spring, Helen will build four 50 MW electric boilers and two large thermal batteries.
In October 2023 Helen signed a letter of intent with Steady Energy in order to facilitate investment in a small-scale nuclear power plant for the production of district heating. Steady Energy, spun out from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, aims to build the world’s first district heating plant based on its LDR-50 small modular reactor (SMR) by 2030. The LDR-50 has been in development at VTT since 2020 and is designed to operate at around 150 degrees Celsius and below 10 bar (145 psi). Steady Energy says its operating conditions are less demanding than those of traditional reactors. In November 2022, Helen began a joint study with Finnish utility Fortum to explore possible collaboration in new nuclear power, especially SMRs.
