Annual outages on Fortum's Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant completed
Espoo, Finland, 2012-10-15 11:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE 15
October 2012
Both units of Fortum's Loviisa nuclear power plant are back in production after
their annual outages. The approximately 54-day outage on Loviisa 1 ended on 29
September 2012, and the outage on Loviisa 2 ended on 13 October after over 20
working days.
Loviisa 1 was scheduled for the most extensive 8-year outage, including many
wide-scope inspections, testings and regular maintenance as well as significant
alterations and repairs. As in every annual outage, one third of the fuel was
exchanged. The planned duration of Loviisa 2 outage was exceeded by 12 working
days due to longer than planned testings of renewed equipment and securing
their reliable use.
Loviisa 2 underwent a so-called short refuelling outage, where one third of the
fuel was exchanged and some inspections and maintenance carried out.
"The safety and availability of Loviisa Power Plant were further enhanced
through several modernizations. For example, the pressure control system of
Loviisa 1 and a lot of the piping of the auxiliary cooling water system were
renewed. The sealing surfaces of Loviisa 2 reactor pressure vessel were
refurbished", states Raimo Raitanen, Manager of Loviisa Power Plant's
technology unit.
In addition to the 500 employees of Loviisa plant, about 1,000 maintenance and
inspection professional from a total of 80 companies participated in this
year's outages. 90 percent of their personnel was domestic. The companies had a
direct contract with Fortum.
Annual outages guarantee safe and undisturbed operation of the power plant. In
2011, Loviisa Power Plant produced 8.06 terawatt hours of electricity,
corresponding to about 10 percent of the annual consumption in Finland. The
capacity factor describing the plant's availability was 94.3 percent in 2011,
which ranks very high in international comparison.
Fortum Corporation
Corporate Communications
For more information, please contact:
Raimo Raitanen, Manager, Technology Unit, Loviisa Power Plant, tel. +358 10 45
55011
Mauri Lindqvist, Manager, Annual Outage Unit, Loviisa Power Plant, tel. +358 10
45 55011
Pertti Salonen, Manager, Maintenance Unit, Loviisa Power Plant, tel. +358 10 45
55011
Fortum
Fortum's purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future
generations. We provide sustainable solutions that fulfil the needs for low
emissions, resource efficiency and energy security, and deliver excellent value
to our shareholders. Our activities cover the generation, distribution and
sales of electricity and heat as well as related expert services.
Fortum's operations focus on the Nordic countries, Russia, Poland and the
Baltics. In the future, the integrating European and fast-growing Asian energy
markets provide additional growth opportunities. In 2011, Fortum’s sales
totalled EUR 6.2 billion and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.8 billion.
We employ approximately 10,800 people. Fortum’s shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX
Helsinki.
Further information: www.fortum.com
