The annual refuelling and maintenance outage at unit 1 of Fortum’s Loviisa NPP began on 7 August to be followed by the servicing of unit 2. This year Unit 1 will undergo an extensive inspection outage which takes place every four years while unit 2 is scheduled for a short refuelling outage. The entire outage procedure is estimated to be completed in eight weeks.
In addition to the maintenance tasks and refuelling, the most significant work on both units will be modernisation of high-pressure turbines and replacement of main transformer and generator breaker. At unit 1, reheaters and safety valves in the intial steam line will be replaced. At unit 2, the generator’s rotor will be replaced and a major overhaul of stator conducted. During the outage, one quarter of the fuel will be replaced.
Timo Eurasto, Manager of Loviisa NPP’s Operations Unit said "The turbine modernisation is among the most significant investment projects in the Loviisa power plant’s history and part of the continuous improvement of the Plant…. The modernisation will significantly improve the efficiency of the turbine plant’s electricity production without increasing the reactor’s thermal output.” A total of 950 external contractors are involved in the annual outage and ongoing modernisation projects. There are approximately 500 Fortum employees and some 100 permanent contractors working at the plant.
