Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) has won a third partial ruling from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in its long-running nuclear reactor dispute with plant suppliers Areva and Siemens, TVO said on Wednesday. TVO and the suppliers are claiming billions of euros from each other due to years of delays and cost overruns on the Olkiluoto 3 reactor project in southwest Finland. Its start was postponed last month to May 2019 – a decade later than planned. Areva-Siemens, which started the dispute over delays, is claiming 3.6 billion euros ($4.3 billion) from TVO, while the Finnish company has filed a counter-claim of 2.6 billion euros.
Reuters 15th Nov 2017 read more »
Nuclear operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has received a final and binding partial award in its International Chamber of Commerce arbitration proceeding related to delays and costs at the Olkiluoto-3 EPR nuclear power project in Finland. TVO said on 15 November 2017 that in the partial award, an ICC tribunal has addressed the execution of construction work and overall management of the project by supplier Areva-Siemens. TVO said the partial award resolves many of the issues concerning construction work in favour of TVO and defers many others issues, including the supplier’s project management, for determination in a subsequent award. This is the third final and binding partial award issued by the ICC. TVO said the arbitration proceeding is continuing towards the final award, in which the tribunal will decide on possible compensation. The Olkiluoto-3 EPR was procured from Areva-Siemens as a fixed-price turnkey project. According to the current Areva-Siemens schedule, regular electricity production from the unit will begin in May 2019, about 10 years behind schedule. In October 2014, the Areva-Siemens consortium building the unit lodged an arbitration claim against TVO for €3.5bn ($4bn) for cost overruns on the project. TVO’s counterclaim for delays is for €2.3bn. TVO said it considers its claims to be “well-founded”. The three partial awards granted by the tribunal confirm this position, the company said.
NucNet 15th Nov 2017 read more »
Pohjolan Voima Oy (PVO), the largest shareholder in Finland’s long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor, could make additional compensation claims against suppliers Areva and Siemens following a recent setback, PVO said on Tuesday. The start of regular power production at Olkiluoto 3 – Finland’s largest reactor – was last month postponed by another five months to May 2019. “It (further compensation) has been briefly discussed (within PVO). I don’t want to enter further this topic as it is an issue for (reactor operator) Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) to decide,” PVO CEO Lauri Virkkunen, told Reuters. The owners and supplier are locked in a dispute over the plant’s delays at the International Chamber of Commerce, where TVO is claiming 2.6 billion euros ($3.06 billion) from the Areva-led consortium, which has filed a counter-claim of 3.6 billion euros. The final ruling is expected early next year, and TVO last year said it was optimistic following favourable partial awards. PVO owns 58.5 percent of TVO, which will operate the reactor in western Finland. Fortum, the second-biggest owner, was not immediately available to comment. Talking on the sidelines of an energy conference, PVO’s Virkkunen said Finland faced an increasing risk of power shortages as combined power and heat power plants are closing and Olkiluoto 3 commercial operations are delayed. “I think there is a real risk as lack of power is increasing. In Finland companies have been closing the base load power plants, which means there is less and less baseline capacity in the country.”
Reuters 14th Nov 2017 read more »
