The two companies have launched a year-long preliminary study about the feasibility of nuclear heat in Jyvaskyla from the perspective of regulation, local approval, suitable locations, zoning, technology and costs. They will also investigate suitable locations for a potential plant, assess the economics of the technology as well as potential construction schedule. No decisions will be made at this stage on implementation or technology selection.
After the assessment, the companies will make a separate decision whether to enter a more detailed phase in the process – the pre-planning phase.
“If implemented, the small nuclear power project would be a multi-year, phased process,” Alva said. “The project would require extensive studies, planning, various licensing procedures, and assessments and approvals from authorities.”
The company – fully owned by the City of Jyväskylä – said it is developing Jyväskylä’s energy production in the long term towards low-emission, reliable and cost-predictable solutions. Some of its current production capacity will reach the end of its life cycle in the coming decades, and its replacement is one of the company’s key strategic issues. Therefore, Alva is currently evaluating different options for future heat production.
“We want to carefully assess whether small-scale nuclear power can be a suitable solution for Jyväskylä’s future heat production,” said Alva Production Director Alex Schreckenbach. “At this stage, we are not making an investment decision, but we are investigating the prerequisites and gathering as much information as possible to support our final decision.”
“Jyväskylä is the fourth city in Finland where SMR heat is being seriously considered to replace combustion-based energy sources,” noted Steady Energy CEO Tommi Nyman. “Finnish energy companies, such as Alva, are at the global forefront in the development of sustainable heating solutions.”
In addition to Jyväskylä, SMR heating projects are under way in Helsinki, Kuopio and Kerava. In December 2023, Steady Energy signed a letter of intent with municipal energy company Kuopion Energia in Eastern Finland that includes an option for the construction of up to five district heating reactors starting in 2030. That agreement followed a letter of intent signed in October 2023 between Steady Energy and Helsinki’s energy company Helen for the construction of up to 10 SMRs for district heating. In October 2024, Kerava – in Finland’s Uusimaa region and part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area – becomes the third Finnish city to consider SMRs for heating purposes.
Steady Energy’s LDR-50 district heating SMR – with a thermal output of 50 MW – has been under development at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland since 2020. Designed to operate at around 150°C and below 10 bar (145 psi), the company says its “operating conditions are less demanding compared with those of traditional reactors, simplifying the technical solutions needed to meet the high safety standards of the nuclear industry”. Steady Energy anticipates an LDR-50 can be deployed within seven years, including licensing, at a cost of EUR100 million (USD116 million), making it affordable enough for municipal utilities to invest in independently.
In February this year, Steady Energy poured the first concrete for a full-scale, non-nuclear pilot of its LDR‑50 SMR for district heating in the turbine hall of the decommissioned Salmisaari B coal-fired power station in central Helsinki. The pilot plant will serve as a full-scale, operational model of the LDR-50 reactor design.
