The new plant is expected to begin power production between 2017 ans 2019Rosbalt and the Barents Observer reported. The new plant will be located some 10 kilometres from the site of the present nuclear plant on the coast of Imandra Lake, Rosatom press secretary Igor Konyshev told Rosbalt.

Konyshev told Rosbalt that the new plant will substitute the capacity of the existing Kola Nuclear Power Plant on the southern Kola Peninsula. Two of the original Kola Nuclear Power Plant’s reactor’s have exceeded their engineered life span, but are continuing to operate after having been granted government approved extensions.

The current plant provides some 50 percent of the region’s energy demands, said the Barents Observer. The new plant will include two VVER-300 reactors – a hybrid of the industry standard VVERs and the KLT-40s reactor used aboard nuclear powered vessels, said the Barents Observer.

The reactors each have a 440 MWh capacity. The plant today provides about 50 percent of the region’s energy demands, the Barents Observer said, quoting Interfax.