London — Regular electricity generation at Finland's 1.6 GW Olkiluoto-3 nuclear power plant is to begin in Feb. 2022, 11 months behind the most recent schedule, project owner Teollisuuden Voima Oyj, or TVO, said Aug. 28.
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Register NowThe reactor is already over 12 years behind schedule and three times over its original Eur3.2 billion ($3.55 billion) budget. The EPR unit was originally scheduled to begin commercial operations in May 2009.
"The project schedule has been delayed by slow-moving system tests, technical problems identified in the tests, and an increase in the number of maintenance tasks due to project delays. A lack of necessary spare parts has also taken time," TVO said, referencing an updated schedule from plant supplier Areva-Siemens.
According to the new schedule, fuel will now be loaded in March 2021, the unit connected to the grid in Oct. 2021 and regular electricity generation starts in Feb. 2022.
"Of approximately 3,000 commissioning tests, only a few dozen remain," TVO's OL3 project director Jouni Silvennoinen said.
From first grid connection in Oct. 2021, the plant is schedule to produce between 1 TWh and 3 TWh at varying capacities ahead of commercial operations.