16 Sep (NucNet): Plans by Teollisuuden Voima Oyi (TVO) to extend the application period for a licence to construct Olkiluoto-4 should be rejected because of “uncertainties” with the existing Olkiluoto-3 EPR project, Finland’s Ministry of Employment and the Economy has said.
But the ministry also said in a statement it will recommend approval of a decision-in-principle for a construction licence to build the Hanhikivi-1 nuclear station on condition that at least 60 percent of the shares in the project must be under Finnish ownership.
In May 2014 TVO, the operator of the Olkiluoto nuclear station, requested the five-year extension for the application period because Olkiluoto-3 had not entered service on schedule. TVO proposed that the new deadline for submitting application should be the end of March 2019.
But economic affairs minister Jan Vapaavuori said he will this week propose to the government that TVO’s application be rejected. He said: “Owing to uncertainties with the Olkiluoto-3 project it is not possible to reliably evaluate if TVO would be able to proceed with the project all the way through the investment and submission of the construction licence even under a new deadline.”
He said the existing decision-in-principle has “a significant impact” on the workings of the electricity market and on competition. “Good governance requires that players in the field must be treated even-handedly and that the licensing process should be predictable.”
Mr Vapaavuori will also present proposals to the government for a decision on a “supplementary application” submitted by plant owner and operator Fennovoima for a decision-in-principle on the Hanhikivi reactor.
Fennovoima submitted a request to the ministry in March 2014 to re-examine the government’s original decision-in-principle of May 2010 for construction of the station.
The 2010 decision approved construction, but since then the ownership of Fennovoima has changed and a new design for the plant – a Russian 1,200 megawatt AES-2006 pressurised water reactor – has been chosen. A subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom acquired shares in the project.
Fennovoima has two owners: Finnish company Voimaosakeyhtiö SF and RAOS Voima Oy, a Rosatom subsidiary. Voimaosakeyhtiö SF owns 66 percent of Fennovoima and RAOS Voima Oy 34 percent. Voimaosakeyhtiö is in turn owned by Finnish regional and local energy companies as well as companies in industry and trade.
Fennovoima is planning to build Hanhikivi-1, scheduled for commercial operation in 2024, at Pyhäjoki on Finland’s west coast.
