Olkiluoto 3 (photo credit: TVO)Electricity generation at the EPR reactor at unit 3 of Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear power plant (OL3) has again been postponed to the end of February owner-operator power utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) said.

The reactor, which achieved first criticality in December 2021, was initially expected to start electricity generation by the end of Janaury. This was later delayed until the first half of February.

Regular electricity generation is now expected in July 2022, instead of June due to necessary changes that were identified during the test phase.

TVO said that, during the trial operation phase of the OL3 plant unit, “the need to change automation related to the unit's control functions and to perform additional tests related to the changes was noticed – corrective actions are in progress, but will cause a delay in the trial programme”. The main reason for the delay was the unplanned reactor shutdown that occurred on 14 January.  

The OL3 EPR plant supplier consortium constructed the plant under a fixed-price turnkey contract. The consortium of plant suppliers includes AREVA GmbH, AREVA NP SAS and Siemens AG, which are jointly and severally liable for the obligations under the plant supply contract until the end of the plant unit's warranty period.

Construction of OL3 began in 2005. Completion of the reactor was originally scheduled for 2009, but the project has faced a series of delays and setbacks. 


Photo Olkiluoto 3 is due to start regular electricity production in July 2022 (photo credit: TVO)