TVO Working On Extending Operating Licences At Olkiluoto NPP

Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO, ENS Corporate Member) has initiated an environmental impact assessment procedure (EIA) concerning the possible operating licence extension by at least 10 years and potential power uprating of the Olkiluoto-1 and Olkiluoto-2 plant units.

At the moment, the plant units are licensed until 2038.

Extending the lifespan would support domestic year-round and weather-independent electricity production as well as Finland’s and Europe’s climate goals

said Marjo Mustonen, TVO’s Director of Electricity Production.

Unit-1 at Olkiluoto was commissioned in 1978, followed by the second one two years later.

During these four decades of electricity generation, the two units have been modernised throughout their service lives by means of annual maintenance and major investments, which means that they remain in excellent operational condition.

Furthermore. the investments have also enabled power increases in the plant units, originally operating at a power output of 660 MW, and today generating electricity at 890 MW.

By preparing the EIA, TVO is also looking at opportunities to uprate once again the power of the plant units. An uprating of 80 MW is being investigated for both plant units, bringing power levels from 890 MW to approximately 970 MW.

This power increase would mean an annual production growth of 1.2 TWh, roughly equivalent to the annual consumption in a city the size of Jyväskylä or Kuopio (120,000 – 140,000 inhabitants), TVO declared.

Read the full TVO Press Release.

On Sunday, 16 April 2023, TVO also announced that Olkiluoto-3 completed the test production and it has started regular electricity production.

Since then, Finland’s “greatest climate act” and Europe’s largest NPP unit has generate almost 30% of the country’s electricity, and it will produce energy for at least the next 60 years.