Finnish grid and nuclear plant in dispute over power backup
05/10/2023 10:18
By Anne Kauranen
HELSINKI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Finland's energy authority
says it will rule "as soon as possible" on a dispute between the
owners of Europe's largest nuclear reactor and national grid
operator Fingrid over the cost of power backup for the 1.6
gigawatt (GW) reactor.
Finland's Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor started regular
power production in April after 18 years of construction and
testing, and years of legal battles over costs and delays.
Now the owners - the TVO consortium that includes utility
Fortum FORTUM.HE , chemicals producer Kemira KEMIRA.HE , and
forestry groups UPM UPM.HE and Stora Enso STERV.HE among
others - have accused Fingrid of setting "unfounded
restrictions" on OL3's power generation, the energy authority
said.
In an official complaint, TVO is asking for an investigation
into whether Fingrid has neglected its obligations to develop
the grid, the authority said, adding it would rule on the matter
"as soon as possible".
Whenever OL3's production exceeds 1.3 GW, Fingrid requires
TVO to keep sufficient power backup capacity instantly available
in case of a technical failure that could otherwise black out
the national grid.
TVO's owners are big industrial power consumers that lower
their own production to provide the system backup but are unable
to do so, for example, during maintenance shutdowns, TVO said.
"During the past months, OL3's output has often been reduced
because the backup capacity has not been fully available," TVO's
head of communications Johanna Aho told Reuters.
TVO wants a different kind of backup system "to match
today's needs", she added.
Fingrid says it represents the public interest and power
end-users who would eventually pay the bill for new investments
in national power backup capacity.
"This discussion is all about money," Fingrid's Chief
Executive Jukka Ruusunen told Reuters.
The existing backup arrangement was made 20 years ago when
planning for OL3 construction began and reserve capacity had
little financial value. Now TVO's reserves are worth 100 million
euros annually in the reserve markets, he said.
"Now they have come up with an idea that Fingrid should
build a new kind of protection at the expense of power users,"
Ruusunen said.
OL3 accounts for around 14% of Finland's overall power
demand.
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki
Editing by Mark Potter)
((anne.kauranen@thomsonreuters.com; +358401895560;))