The terms of the OL3 EPR project completion have been agreed

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TVO and the Areva−Siemens consortium have reached a consensus regarding the terms of the OL3 EPR project completion. Electricity production of the plant unit is to start in October 2021, when the plant unit will be connected to the national grid for the first time. Regular electricity production is to start in February 2022.

Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) and the OL3 EPR plant supplier consortium companies Areva NP, Areva GmbH, and Siemens AG as well as the Areva Group parent company Areva SA have negotiated since last summer on the terms of the OL3 EPR project completion. In addition, the Areva companies have been preparing a financial solution which would ensure the necessary funding for the companies to complete the OL3 EPR project. 

The parties have reached a consensus in their negotiations regarding the main principles of the OL3 EPR project completion and the key matters are: 

  • The Areva companies' trust mechanism, established in the Global Settlement Agreement (GSA) of 2018, is to be replenished with approximately EUR 600 million as of the beginning of January 2021.
  • Both parties are to cover their own costs as of July 2021 until end of February 2022.
  • In the case that the plant supplier consortium companies would not complete the OL3 EPR project until the end of February 2022, they would pay an additional compensation for delays, depending on the date of completion.

A final agreement is to be signed by the end of May 2021, after which certain conditions have to be fulfilled for the agreement to enter into force.

The OL3 EPR plant unit's fuel was loaded into the reactor in March 2021.

- We have now reached a consensus with the plant supplier consortium regarding the main principles of the project's completion, which create the prerequisites for starting regular electricity production in February 2022. The nuclear commissioning phase of a new nuclear power plant unit is an important and extremely interesting period. We are now determinedly advancing towards connecting the plant unit to the grid in October 2021, when the plant unit is to produce electricity to the national grid for the first time. We have the opportunity to produce approximately 15 percent of Finland's electricity at the OL3 EPR plant unit, and we consider this to be Finland's greatest single act for the climate, says TVO's President and CEO Jarmo Tanhua.

 

The OL3 EPR plant supplier consortium is building the plant unit according to a fixed-price turnkey contract. The companies which belong to the plant supplier consortium, AREVA GmbH, AREVA NP SAS, and Siemens AG, have joint and several liability for the contractual obligations stipulated in the plant contract until the end of the guarantee period of the plant unit.

Further information:

Jarmo Tanhua, President and CEO, Teollisuuden Voima Oyj

Interview requests:

Pasi Tuohimaa, Communication Manager, tel. +358 40 544 5001

Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has produced electricity for its shareholders, Finnish industrial and energy companies, safely and reliably for over 40 years. Nuclear electricity generated at TVO's Olkiluoto plant covers approximately one sixth, increasing to nearly one third once Olkiluoto 3 EPR is completed, of the electricity consumption in Finland. Climate-friendly nuclear electricity not only benefits society but also reduces the environmental impact of energy production. Moreover, the world's first final disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel is under construction in Olkiluoto.