4 Jan (NucNet): Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power station in Finland generated 8.47 terawatt hours of power in 2015, corresponding to about 13 percent of total energy generation in Finland, the company said today. Fortum said the station’s 92.9 percent load factor was among the best in the world for pressurised water reactor plants. Loviisa-1’s load factor was 92.7 percent and Loviisa-2’s was 93.1 percent. Loviisa-1’s production output was the fourth highest in the history of the plant, Fortum said. Both units underwent outages during which one quarter of the fuel in both units was replaced. Unit 1 was out of production for 21 days and Unit 2 for 17 days. In addition to scheduled maintenance and fuel replacement, the turbine reheaters were replaced on both units, Fortum said. An investment programme being carried out at the station is the most extensive in the plant’s history. Fortum said the programme aims to secure generation for the duration of the operating licences – until 2027 for Loviisa-1 and 2030 for Loviisa-2. The most significant investments are related to the renewal of power plant automation systems and refurbishment of the turbine generators, said the station’s deputy director Thomas Buddas. In 2015 Fortum invested around €80m ($87m) in Loviisa, about the same as 2014. The investment programme will continue to be “significant” in the coming years, Fortum said. Both Loviisa reactors are 496 MW VVER V-213 units.
