Finland’s Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has received a final and binding partial award in the ongoing International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration proceeding related to delays and ensuing costs at unit 3 of the Olkiluoto NPP (OL3), where an Areva-Siemen consortium is building an EPR.
In a notice to the stock exchange, TVO said that in the partial award the ICC tribunal has addressed the early period of the project including the time schedule, licensing and licensability, and system design. This period includes many of the issues that TVO has put forward in its main claims against Areva-Siemen, as well as “certain key matters” that the supplier relies upon in its claims against TVO. The partial award has resolved the majority of these issues in favour of TVO and has “rejected the great majority of the supplier’s contentions in this regard”, TVO said.
The partial award does not take a position on any financial settlements. TVO said the arbitration proceeding is continuing with further partial awards to come before the final award when the tribunal will rule on compensation. TVO said: “TVO considers its claims to be well-founded and has considered and found the claims of the supplier to be without merit. The partial award provides material confirmation for this position.” 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 at the end of 2018, nine years behind schedule. In October 2014, the Areva-Siemens consortium building the unit increased an arbitration claim against TVO to €3.5bn for cost overruns on the project. TVO’s counterclaim for delays is for €2.3bn.
