Latest move with GVH follows signing of similar agreement with Westinghouse for AP1000 nuclear plants
Nordic power company Fortum and US-based reactor developer GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) and have entered into an early works agreement to advance potential deployment of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in Finland and Sweden.
Fortum completed a new nuclear feasibility study in March and announced that it had selected the BWRX-300 as one of the technologies it is considering for potential deployment in both nations.
The early works agreement will see GVH and Fortum work on pre-licensing and engineering activities for site adaption in Finland and Sweden with potential BWRX-300 deployment in the second half of the 2030s.
In June the Ontario government approved construction of the first of four BWRX-300 SMR nuclear plants at the Darlington site in Canada, making Ontario the first jurisdiction in the G7 to approve construction of a grid-scale SMR.
Construction of the first unit is scheduled to be completed by the end of the decade.
GVH said momentum continues to build around the global deployment of the BWRX-300.
Tennessee Valley Authority recently announced that it had submitted an application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct the first BWRX-300 in the US, at the utility’s Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The agreement with GVH follows Fortum’s recent signing of an early works agreement with US-based Westinghouse Electric Company for the possible deployment of Westinghouse’s advanced large-scale AP1000 reactor in the Nordics.
Fortum, which owns and operates the two-unit Loviisa nuclear station in Finland, had said it plans to develop new nuclear as a long-term option to meet projected customer demand growth and with view to replacing existing assets at the end of their lifetime.
The company’s feasibility study, concluded earlier this year, said new nuclear can play an important role in a resilient and competitive low-carbon Nordic power system, but an economically viable new-build project will require visibility on income, a solid financing framework and technology-neutral treatment in regulation.
The feasibility study covered both SMRs and conventional large reactors, and involved discussions with several technology vendors, potential partners and customers, and societal stakeholders.
Fortum also has a minority interest in the three-unit Olkiluoto nuclear station in Finland and in four units – Oskarshamn-3, Forsmark-1, Forsmark-2 and Forsmark-3 – in Sweden.
