September 30, 2022 – The Olkiluoto 3 EPR plant in Finland has completed its ramp-up to 1,600 MWe of power generation. It becomes the most powerful nuclear power plant in Europe.
“We celebrate this success with great pride, and we express our gratitude to our customers, our partners and congratulate all the teams who have contributed so much to this construction and this historic event with success!” said Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome.
Since its criticality in December 2021, the progressively ramped-up OL3 reactor has passed all the necessary tests and validations of the operating systems to reach full power today. During the test phases, the plant produced more than 1 TWh (1 billion kWh) of electricity on the Finnish and European electricity grids. The teams on site will now complete the last phase of tests at 100% power.
Owned and operated by TVO, OL3 will generate approximately 14% of Finland’s safe, and reliable low-carbon electricity. The OL3 EPR is a "Generation III+" nuclear reactor, that benefits from significant technological advances in nuclear and occupational safety. Its design incorporates the operational experience from over one hundred nuclear reactor projects built by Framatome all around the world.