Excavation work resumed at the site of the Russia-supplied unit earlier this year after a break of several years following revisions to the site boundaries.
The excavation, which will be used as a foundation pit for many of the plant buildings, is now 400 meters long and 300 meters wide, excavated almost in its entirety to a depth of two meters below sea level.
Russia’s Titan-2, the main contractor of the Hanhikivi-1 construction site, is responsible for the earthworks in the main pit. The subcontractor is Metrostav, a Czech company which worked on construction of the Helsinki metro.
Earlier in the autumn, Metrostav pumped accumulated rainwater from the pit, removed the last remnants of the soft soil layer and applied additional sealing on the rock walls. In October, the company began blasting work.
In April, Fennovoima said commercial operation of Hanhikvi-1 is likely to begin a year later than planned in 2029. Fennovoima said total investment costs for the project have increased from €6.5-€7bn to €7-€7.5bn.
Fennovoima said in its 2020 annual report that its goal was to obtain the construction licence for the plant in 2021 and to start commercial operation in 2028. It has now said it hopes to obtain the construction licence by summer 2022 with power plant construction beginning in the summer or 2023 and commercial operation scheduled for 2029.
In an updated construction licence application submitted in April, Fennovoima described “material changes” and developments that have taken place to the project since the original licence application was submitted in 2015.
Fennovoima said changes were related to design solutions, supply chain, environmental issues and site security and preparedness arrangements. The key operating principles of the power plant have not changed.
Fennovoima said work on the Hanhikivi-1 support area progressed during the summer with 10 storage halls completed and the opening of a 600-seat restaurant for staff.
