Finland's Hanhikivi Nuclear Project Suffers Delays, Price Hike

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Finland's leading energy company, Fennovoima Oy (Helsinki, Finland), has added a year and 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) to the price tag of the slow-moving Hanhikivi nuclear plant project.

The company stated in its report to the Finnish government that construction will start in 2023, not 2022 as originally planned, and the costs of the project will rise from the original 6.5 billion-7 billion euro ($7.8 billion-$8.4 billion) to 7 billion-7.75 billion euro ($8.4 billion-$9.3 billion). Commissioning is expected in 2029. The company blamed a number of key issues, chiefly the five years it took to get its construction licence which was first applied for in 2015.

"Ensuring compliance of the nuclear power plant design and licensing material with the Finnish requirements has caused some delays in the start of construction," the company reported. "On the other hand, the delay at the licensing phase has enabled better preparation for the transition to the construction phase, which is expected to reduce the cost, quality and schedule risks at the construction phase. The delay of approximately five years experienced at the licensing phase is expected to remain unchanged after the transition to the operational phase."

Industrial Info is tracking 11 grassroot nuclear power projects in Europe worth an estimated $148 billion.

Russia's Rosatom has been contracted from the outset to build the Hanhikivi plant using a 1,200-megawatt (MW) AES-2006 VVER reactor on a fixed-price contract. Fennovoima owns the plant, but Rosatom, through its Finnish subsidiary, RAOS Voima Oy, owns a 34% stake in Fennovoima.

Finland's other key new nuclear project, Olkiluoto 3, has been subject to many delays, cost overruns and legal actions. The project, which was one of the first to opt for the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), designed by French companies AREVA (Paris, France) and Électricité de France SA (EPA:EDF) (Paris), has run over by more than a decade and doubled in cost to nearly $7 billion. After COVID-19-related delays last year, fuel loading commenced last month and commissioning is now scheduled for March 2022.

Finland is home to four reactors that supply roughly 30% of its power, followed by biofuels & waste (19%), hydropower (19%), coal (14%), wind (8%) and gas (6%). There is increasing pressure to get the new nuclear plants up and running. The country has been reliant on electricity imports due to the delays at Olkiluoto 3, and the government also has committed to cutting coal from the power mix by mid-2029. For additional information, see September 7, 2017, article--Finland To Phase Out Coal-fired Power.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.