Rosatom's first-of-a-kind floating power unit connects to isolated electricity grid in Pevek, Russia's far east

This happened after the Russian regulator, Rostekhnadzor, issued an operations permit, as well as permission to connect to the northern electricity grid maintained by Chukotenergo JSC.

​Pevek residents marked this symbolic day by turning on the fairy lights on the town's Christmas tree.

Rosatom's CEO Alexey Likhachev said:

"After its connection to the grid, Akademik Lomonosov becomes the world's first nuclear power plant based on SMR-class technology to generate electricity. This is a remarkable milestone for both the Russian and the world's nuclear energy industry. This is also a major step in establishing Pevek as the new energy capital of the region."

The project has been welcomed by scientists, nuclear energy experts, and environmentalists across the world.

Kirsty Gogan, Head of Energy for Humanity, an NGO (London), said:

"For hard-to-reach regions, with a climate that is simultaneously too harsh to support the use of renewable energies and too fragile to continue its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, small nuclear, including floating plants, is the only answer. Akademik Lomonosov is the first step towards demonstrating its potential for decarbonisation of the Arctic and beyond.

Connecting the FPU generators to the network was carried out after parameter synchronisation with the coastal network. This happened after the completed construction of the onshore facilities, ensuring the transfer of electricity from the FPUs to Chukotka's high voltage networks. A vast amount of work was also carried out on constructing the heat supply networks. Connecting the FNPP to Pevek's heat networks will be completed in 2020.

​Akademik Lomonosov is a pilot project and a 'working prototype' for a future fleet of floating nuclear power plants and on-shore installations based on Russian-made SMRs. The small power units will be available for deployment to hard-to-reach areas of Russia's North and Far-East, as well as for export.