Company has already signed letters of intent for 15 reactors
Keravan Energia, a Finnish energy utility, has signed an agreement with nuclear startup Steady Energy to develop nuclear-powered district heating for the city of Kerava, near the capital Helsinki in the south of the country.
Steady Energy said Kerava is the third Finnish city to consider small modular reactor (SMR) technology for heating purposes, following earlier initiatives in Kuopio, eastern Finland, and Helsinki.
Should the project proceed to investment, construction of the SMR could begin as early as 2029, with district heating operations anticipated to start in 2032, the company said.
In Kuopio nuclear heating is already in the pre-investment phase, with zoning and environmental permitting expected to begin soon.
Steady Energy said in June that it plans to start construction of its first LDR-50 district heating SMR pilot plant in Finland next year. Unlike the actual power plant, the pilot unit will use an electric element to produce heat inside the reactor capsule instead of nuclear fuel.
Steady Energy’s unit, comparable in size to an upright shipping container, can be built entirely underground or on an existing industrial site.
The company has already signed letters of intent for the delivery of up to 15 reactors for district heating with Helsinki’s local utility Helen and Kuopio Energy.
Finland is largely heated by district heating, mostly from fossil fuels, peat and wood.
District heating systems take energy released as heat from a range of energy sources – in this case an SMR – and connect it to energy consumers through a system of highly insulated pipes. One advantage of SMRs would be their low emissions.
