Finnish industry planning for 2-3 more nukes

ByRod Adams

Even though the Olkiluoto plant in Finland has experienced the typical first of a kind project delays and budget expansions, Finnish industry is working on plans for an additional 2 or 3 new nuclear power plants. According to an article titled Two More Nuclear Units To Be Sought published by YLE.fi the main reason for the interest is a desire by industry to increase electrical supply so that prices decrease.

By EU standards, electricity is still inexpensive in Finland. Even so, the Finnish Technology Industries association, which accounts for about half of the nation’s exports, says that prices are still too high.

Its answer is the law of supply and demand: more power production will mean cheaper energy. And so, it wants to see at least two, preferably three new nuclear power units come online.

The new unit under construction at TVO’s Olkiluoto nuclear plant will generate 12.3 to 13 terawatt hours of electricity a year. Finnish Technology Industries Energy Director Martti Kätkä says that the nation needs at least two more with the same level of generating capacity.

Compare that thought to the commonly stated wisdom in the US that the way to avoid expensive electricity is conserve enough electricity so industry never has to build any new plants.

Rod Adams
Rod Adams

Rod Adams is Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital, a venture fund that invests in advanced nuclear, which provides affordable access to this clean energy sector to pronuclear and impact investors. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., which was one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. He has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology, regulation, and policies for several decades through Atomic Insights, both as its primary blogger and as host of The Atomic Show Podcast. Please click here to subscribe to the Atomic Show RSS feed. To join Rod's pronuclear network and receive his occasional newsletter, click here.

Similar Posts

  • Sweden May Formally Acknowledge What Many Observers Have Known for Years – Nuclear Is The Only Emission Free Alternative That Works

    ByRod Adams

    Back in 1980, politicians in Sweden offered the country’s voters a referendum on nuclear power that offered three options for implementing a gradual phase out of the technology, but no options on the ballot called for maintaining or expanding use. After nearly thirty years in which only two smallish plants at Barseback were shut down,…

  • TransCanada considers increasing its nuclear investments

    ByRod Adams

    Bruce Power is one of the more interesting partnerships in the energy business. Cameco Corporation, TransCanada Corporation, BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust, the Power Workers’ Union and the Society of Energy Professionals came together to form Canada’s first privately owned company focused on nuclear power. The company purchased a nuclear power station that included eight reactors…

  • Call for translation assistance

    ByRod Adams

    I have a Google Alert set to inform me whenever there is a news article that includes the string PBMR – which is a unique string that means someone is talking about Pebble Bed Modular Reactors. For the last couple of days, I have been frustrated by the fact that all of the articles returned…

  • Amarillo Power seeks indication of local support

    ByRod Adams

    According to AEDC adds nuke plant to agenda, by Karen Welch Smith of the Amarillo Globe News, the next small step in the long process of licensing and building a new nuclear power plant near Amarillo, Texas is to obtain a formal indication of support by the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation. The article also reports…

  • Interesting explanation for Westinghouse decision

    ByRod Adams

    On July 6, 2005, Malcolm Wicks spoke to a group of 200 delegates of the British nuclear industry. Mr. Wicks is the UK’s minister of state for energy. He stated that the government had put a lot of thought into the decision to sell Westinghouse. A major factor in the decision process was the fact…

  • Established Environmental Groups Are Grudgingly Accepting Nuclear Energy

    ByRod Adams

    In the November 23, 2009 issue of the Washington Post, there is an article titled Nuclear Power Regains Support that describes how some established Environmental groups and individuals have decided that nuclear power can be part of a set of tools that will enable a transition away from fossil fuels. A major reason given for…