Norway’s Norsk Kjernekraft and the municipality of Austrheim have established a new company, Fensfjorden Kjhernekraft, with the goal of developing a NPP in the immediate vicinity of Equinor’s plant in Mongstad – Norway’s largest CO2 emitter.
The planned plant will comprise of several small modular reactors (SMRs) and will be able to deliver up to 1,280 MW of electrical power – twice as much electricity as Norway’s largest hydropower plant.
“With the establishment of Fensfjorden Kjernekraft, Austrheim municipality and Norsk Kjernekraft are taking an important step towards possible realisation of nuclear power plants in the municipality,” said Mayor Morten Sognnes. “We know today that modern nuclear power with SMR technology is both safe and sustainable, and can deliver large amounts of stable and regulated energy that will benefit both business and citizens for many generations.”
Norsk Kjernekraft CEO Jonny Hesthammer commended the municipality for its cooperation. “We have already done thorough preliminary studies, and they clearly show that the site in Austrheim has very good conditions for success with nuclear power.,” he noted.
The Austrheim project is based on the results of a comprehensive feasibility study conducted in collaboration with nuclear power experts from the USA and South Korea. The study shows very good conditions for nuclear power in the area and, among other things, assessed technology from the US-based X-Energy which recently attracted several hundred million dollars from Amazon.
Fensfjorden Kjernekraft will now launch a further investigation of the location. The first step will be an impact assessment process in cooperation with the Norwegian authorities. The company will then apply for licences and permits in accordance with Norwegian legislation. If all goes well, the first parts of the power plant can be completed and operational in 2035.
