Fortum continues preparations for nuclear new-build

Monday, 24 March 2025

Fortum launched the feasibility study in October 2022 to explore the commercial, technological, and societal prerequisites for new nuclear in the two Nordic countries. The study involved in-depth discussions with several technology vendors, potential partners and customers as well as societal stakeholders.

"Fortum will now continue to develop its capabilities to have new nuclear as an option to meet future customer demand in the Nordics in the longer term," the company said. "In addition, Fortum sees the development work as a step in preparing for the eventual replacement of the existing nuclear capacity."

It noted that a conclusion of the study is that with the current power market outlook, new nuclear is "not economically viable on a merchant basis only". However, based on the analysis Fortum conducted and based on new-build projects ongoing in other western countries, new nuclear projects "can be manageable with a solid risk sharing framework - like the one being prepared by the Swedish government - when matched with increased customer demand".

Over the next few years, Fortum will focus on further developing project economics and partnerships as well as continuing discussions with potential customers on how to best meet their needs.

During the feasibility study, Fortum evaluated different large and small modular reactor (SMR) designs together with vendors. The company said it will now continue to deepen the collaboration with two conventional reactor technology providers - EDF (EPR) and Westinghouse-Hyundai (AP1000) - and one SMR developer - GE-Hitachi (BWRX-300).

"From a project execution perspective, it is essential to ensure the maturity of the technology, limit the country-specific requirements and verify the vendor's competencies already in the pre-investment phase," said Laurent Leveugle, Vice President, New Nuclear at Fortum. "Our plan is to collaborate with three plant suppliers to mitigate project risks before we would consider an investment. De-risking the licensing of a plant design as far as possible before construction is a must to reduce the likelihood of costly design changes, which can lead to delays in project execution."

Fortum said that an important part of de-risking new nuclear is "regulatory harmonisation and political stability beyond electoral cycles on both EU and national levels". It added: "Crucially, nuclear power should be treated on an equal footing with other clean production technologies when it comes to financing and as raw material for low-carbon products such as hydrogen, fertilisers and clean steel. In addition, maintaining a sound operating environment for existing nuclear operations is essential for anyone considering future investments."

"Decarbonisation of industries and societies through electrification is expected to significantly increase, even double, power demand in the Nordics towards 2050," said Fortum President and CEO Markus Rauramo. "Meeting such a demand increase with intermittent renewables only could lead to a very volatile power system with limited predictability in terms of availability and price, which would not be desirable for our customers or society. We at Fortum believe it makes sense to keep all low-carbon production technologies in the toolbox also in the future and that's why we will continue to develop our nuclear capabilities as a long-term option.

"In the next 5-10 years, new demand in the Nordics will be primarily met with new onshore wind and solar power coupled with flexibility and storage solutions as well as lifetime extensions of existing nuclear power plants. To prepare for the growing needs of our customers, we are developing a ready-to-build renewables pipeline, exploring pumped hydro, and extending the lifetime of our Loviisa plant. New nuclear could provide new supply to the Nordics earliest in the second half of the 2030s, if market and regulatory conditions are right."

Fortum operates the Loviisa plant - comprising two VVER-440 type pressurised water reactors - which was the first nuclear power plant in Finland and currently provides more than 10% of the country's electricity. Loviisa unit 1 began commercial operation in 1977, with unit 2 following in 1981. In March, the company applied to operate both units 1 and 2 of the plant until the end of 2050. The current operating licences expire at the end of 2027 and 2030, respectively.

The utility also holds stakes in units 1 and 2 of the Olkiluoto plant in Finland, as well as in units 1-3 of the Forsmark plant and unit 3 of the Oskarshamn plant, both in Sweden.

"We have competitive advantage through our deep and broad expertise in nuclear power, but will need strong partners for future projects," said Petra Lundström, Executive Vice President, Nuclear Generation at Fortum. "As a next step, we will continue to develop a business case and actively pursue partnerships to test interest in co-developing and co-investing in a new nuclear new build project with us."