POWER June 2010 - 12

rid the country of its dependency on electricity imports from
other countries-especially Russia-as well as to decrease
carbon emissions.
Approvals were given to Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), for a
fourth reactor at Olkiluoto, and to Fennovoima for a one- or
two-unit plant in the north of the country. The third proposal,
by utility Fortum to build a new unit at its Loviisa
site, was denied. The decision to build the two units must
now be approved by parliament, which will process what is
being deemed the nation's most important decision this term
in May. A final vote is expected this summer.
Finland's four existing reactors (2,696 MWe net total) generated
a record 22.6 billion kWh net in 2009, 27.8% of the country's
electricity. They are among the world's most efficient, with
average capacity factors reaching 94%, according to the World
Nuclear Association.
TVO said it was ready to proceed as soon as the project had
parliamentary approval-though the utility did not divulge
the reactor design it would employ. " We have an excellent
plant site in Olkiluoto for a fourth unit, " President and CEO
Jarmo Tanhua said in a statement. " The organisation and everything
else needed for the implementation of the project is
already in place. Hence we can launch the construction process
smoothly as a continuation to the Olkiluoto 3 project. "
TVO, whose owners include utility Pohjolan Voima and Fortum,
is currently building Finland's fifth nuclear reactor along
the western coast at Olkiluoto-a project whose commercial
operation in the second half of 2012 is much-anticipated because
it would be the world's first EPR. The building of Olkiluoto
3 has fallen well behind its original schedule by more
than three years, however. The delays have led to ballooning
costs, which in turn have spurred a bitter contractual dispute
between TVO and the plant's builder, AREVA. The parties have
taken the matter to the International Chamber of Commerce.
3. New nuclear for Finland. The Finnish government approved
two of three proposals to build new nuclear plants in that country. TVO-
owner of the EPR project under construction at Olkiluoto, which is way
behind schedule and over budget-plans to build a fourth unit at that
site, though it has not divulged the chosen reactor design. Fennovoima,
meanwhile, is considering two sites in northern Finland: Simo and Pyhäjoki.
That firm has said it is considering AREVA's EPR and Kerena and the
ABWR by Toshiba. This image is an artist's depiction of a potential Fennovoima
plan for an ABWR at Simo, Lapland. Courtesy: Fennovoima
In the meantime, Fennovoima, a consortium of 64 shareholders
that will be the first new company to enter the Finnish nuclear
power business in 36 years, said it was considering two
sites in northern Finland: Simo and Pyhäjoki (Figure 3). Studies
have been conducted at both sites. If the decision-in-principle
is granted by Parliament, the firm will choose a final site in
2011 and begin the permit and construction phase in 2012. The
power plant is expected to begin operating in 2020 at the latest,
Fennovoima said. It is also considering several reactor designs,
including AREVA's EPR and KERENA, and the ABWR by Toshiba.
Hoover Dam Contracts for Low-Water
Hydroelectric Turbine
Growing water demand and reduced runoff due to drought
has depleted waters feeding many hydroelectric power plants
around the world-sometimes causing severe power shortages,
such as in Brazil and New Zealand. The 2,080-MW Hoover Dam
(Figure 4), a facility that generates power for more than a million
people in Arizona, Nevada, and Southern California, is not
immune to this phenomenon. According to a recent study by
the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Colorado River system,
which includes Lake Powell and Lake Mead (both manmade
reservoirs), is suffering a net deficit of nearly one million acrefeet
of water per year.
The study estimated a 50% chance that levels at Lake Mead,
already showing a deficit, could drop too low for power production.
Additionally, the Scripps researchers predicted that there is
a 50% chance that by 2021, Lake Mead could run dry if water demand
is not curbed and climate changes continue as expected.
To combat dropping water levels, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,
which oversees power production at the dam, recently
awarded Austrian company Andritz Hydro Corp. a $3.4-million
contract for the design and manufacture of a new " wide-head "
turbine runner for generating unit N-8 at Hoover Dam. The " tur4.
Finding its own level. Water levels at Lake Mead have dropped
to 1,099 feet mean above sea level (msl)-and keep falling mostly due
to surging water demand-but some existing turbines at the 2,080-MW
Hoover Dam (shown here) will only operate efficiently in waters of more
than 1,050 msl. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the federal body that
oversees hydropower production at the power plant, recently commissioned
the design and manufacture of a new " wide-head " turbine runner
for one of its generating units. The design could prove useful for several
hydropower plants around the world, where water shortages have
spurred chronic energy crises. Source: Bureau of Reclamation
12
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