For new NATO member Finland, starting up a delayed nuclear power plant was the means to stop importing electricity from Russia and be firmly on the “right side” of NATO’s war. The plant, Olkiluoto 3 or OL3, is Europe’s first new nuclear plant on line in 16 years, according to its operator Fingrid and The National News of Finland.
But the 1.6 GW plant’s electricity brought strong non-military benefits. According to Fingrid’s chief executive Jukka Ruusunen, it helped bring down electricity prices by more than 75%. It avoided what the country was otherwise preparing for after cutting the lines from Russia: rolling power cuts and heating losses during the winter. The price per megawatt of electricity was at about €246 to start December 2022; this April it fell to €60.5. The OL3 can meet up to 15% of Finland’s national power demand; two older reactors, each with 890 MW capacity, already provided about one-third of national power demand.
Despite these benefits, Fingrid continues to be “correct” rather than develop the physical economy; it expects wind to be the largest source of power in the country by 2027.
