Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant had a good production year 2013
PRESS RELEASE 2 January 2014
2013 was a good production year for Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear power plant. The plant produced a total of 8.04 terawatt hours, which is approximately nine per cent of Finland’s total electricity production. The load factor, which depicts the power plant’s availability, was 92.5% with Loviisa 1’s load factor 92.1% and Loviisa 2’s 93%. On an international scale, the load factor was good, compared to the load factor for pressurised water power plants worldwide, approximately 83% last year.
After the previous year’s extensive annual outage, in 2013 there were short refueling outages at both plants. The annual maintenance lasted 19 days at Loviisa 1 and 16 days at Loviisa 2. In addition, there were three repair outages during the year at the Loviisa nuclear power plant which lasted approximately nine days altogether. The reasons for the repair outages were a fault in a control rod bearing at Loviisa 1 and an electrical fault in a control rod motor as well as an internal leak in a cylinder head gasket in the emergency cooling system valve at Loviisa 2.
"We expect continual improvement in all areas of our safety goals. The lowest radiation doses in the history of the power plant in proportion to the maintenance and repair work performed during the year was an excellent achievement in 2013. The efforts of all employees are necessary for successful planning and realization of work," says technical and development unit manager Thomas Buddas.
Several significant investment projects are underway at the Loviisa power plant to ensure the safe, reliable and profitable electricity production through the end of the operation permit, i.e. until 2027 and 2030.
"It is estimated that the renewal of turbines and reheaters will increase the production capacity by 29 MW. In 2014, a sea-water independent cooling system will be constructed, which will improve the safety of the power plant in extreme conditions. In addition, we have pending numerous smaller improvement projects which will keep the employees of the power plant busy during the coming years," says Thomas Buddas.
Loviisa power plant is an important employer in the area, providing work for 528 Fortum employees as well as approximately 100 permanent employees of other companies. In addition, the annual outages have a remarkable effect on the employment in the area. In 2013, 650 contractors (of whom 620 domestic) and 50 companies participated in the annual outage.
Fortum Corporation
Corporate communications
Additional information:
Thomas Buddas, technical and development unit manager, Fortum, tel. +358 50 455 3710
Fortum
Fortum's purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future generations. We provide sustainable solutions that fulfil the needs for low emissions, resource efficiency and energy security, and deliver excellent value to our shareholders. Our activities cover the generation, distribution and sales of electricity and heat as well as related expert services.
Fortum's operations focus on the Nordic countries, Russia, Poland and the Baltics. In the future, the integrating European and fast-growing Asian energy markets provide additional growth opportunities. In 2012, Fortum’s sales totalled EUR 6.2 billion and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.7 billion. We employ approximately 10,400 people. Fortum’s shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
Further information: www.fortum.com