Mini-Nuclear Power Plant Proposed for Norway

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Norwegian firm Norsk Kjernekraft (Bergen, Norway) has submitted an application to Norway's Ministry of Energy for an assessment to construct one of the country's first nuclear plants based on small modular reactor (SMR) technology.

Located in the municipality of Øygarden, near Bergen in western Norway, the proposed 1.5-gigawatt (GW) plant will eventually comprise five SMRs, each with a generating capacity of 300 megawatts (MW). The project has the potential to generate about 12.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year of electricity, which the company stated is enough to power 800,000 households and is the equivalent of "90% of all wind power that was produced in Norway last year." Over the past year, the company has been actively investigating a number of industrial locations for proposed SMR plants.

"This marks yet another important milestone for Norwegian Nuclear Power, and it is the third notification sent to the Ministry of Energy," said Norsk Kjernekraft Chief Executive Officer Jonny Hesthammer. "Previous notifications have included Aure and Heim municipalities, as well as Vardø municipality. A nuclear power plant in Øygarden will make it possible to electrify oil and gas installations on land and offshore. In addition, it will enable new power-intensive industries, and improve the utilization of the power grid in Western Norway. The power plant will produce electricity regardless of the weather, thereby improving security of supply throughout the country. This report will also be an important part of the knowledge base for the government's announced investigation into nuclear power in Norway."

Last month, the Ministry of Energy appointed a committee to assess the potential development of nuclear power in Norway, after rejecting it in the 1970s. Today, Norway's electricity is supplied by renewable energy sources, mainly through hydropower, which accounts for 88% of the country's supply, with most of the remainder coming from wind. Energy Minister Terje Aasland said: "The need for emission-free and stable energy sources that can help deal with the natural and climate crisis and meet an increasing need for power, technological development, as well as plans for the establishment of nuclear power production by private players in collaboration with municipalities, have contributed to the question of nuclear power being brought up again. Nuclear power is a complex energy source that affects a number of areas of society. There is therefore a need to obtain an updated and solid knowledge base on nuclear power as a possible energy source in the Norwegian power system."

Norsk Kjernekraft is focusing its effort on building SMRs in collaboration with power-intensive companies in highly industrialized regions. In its most recent submission it noted that Øygarden has the highest greenhouse gas emissions in Norway and that its SMRs would be ideal to provide power for nearby oil and gas installations. The company said the municipality "already has a large power deficit, and this will increase as a result of planned electrification projects and the establishment of new industry." Last month, Norsk Kjernekraft was one of 18 European companies to apply to the European Industrial Alliance for Small Modular Reactors to establish a working group dedicated to the implementation of GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy's (Wilmington, North Carolina) BWRX-300 technology.

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