According to LUT University industrial professor Jukka Ruusunen, the maintenance of three large nuclear power plants at the same time could lead to a significant increase in electricity prices. If all three units of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant were under maintenance at the same time, it would result in more than a quarter of Finland’s electricity production capacity being removed from the market. The risk of a simultaneous maintenance outage of three nuclear power plants increased on Monday after Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), which owns the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant, announced that the maintenance of Olkiluoto 2 would be extended by another day. As a result, there are only a few days between the maintenance of the three large power generation plants.
Olkiluoto’s three units produce electricity with a total power of approximately 3,380 megawatts, which corresponds to almost 28 percent of Finland’s electricity production on a windy day. On a windless day, their share increases to almost half. Ruusunen estimates that if such a large quantity is removed from production, it will increase the price of electricity on the market significantly. “If you remove so much basic strength from production, it will undoubtedly have an impact,” says Ruusunen. He retired from his position as CEO of Fingrid at the end of last year but continues to comment on energy issues as an industrial professor at LUT University. According to his assessment, there is no concern about power sufficiency because energy consumption is relatively low outside the heating season.
The prolongation of Olkiluoto 3’s maintenance from its initially estimated month to more than two months has affected energy prices in spring. The average price per kilowatt hour has been 8.3 cents this year due to this delay. TVO has not yet announced whether Olkiluoto 2 will go back online on Monday or not, as its schedule has been extended twice during the day already. On Friday May 10th, Olkiluoto 3’s annual maintenance is scheduled to end while Olkiluoto 1’s annual maintenance is set for Sunday May 12th
