19 Mar (NucNet): State-owned China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) has expressed an interest in investing in Bulgaria’s stalled two-unit Belene nuclear power project, energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on 16 March 2018.
“China’s state nuclear company CNNC has sent a letter declaring its interest in the Belene nuclear project,” Ms Petkova told parliament, adding that the letter was sent to state energy company NEK.
Ms Petkova pledged to come up with proposals on how to proceed with the project by the end of June. She said Bulgaria had already spent 3 billion levs (about €1.5bn) on the project.
In 2008, Bulgaria ordered the design, construction and commissioning of two Russian VVER-1000 pressurised water reactor units for Belene, but cancelled the project in 2012 after failing to find foreign investors and concerns over its economic viability and financing.
The government renewed the search for investors to build the facility after an arbitration court ruled in 2016 that Bulgaria had to pay more than €620m in compensation to Russia, which had already manufactured some major components, for the cancellation.
The Bulgarian press reported that the European Investment Bank is interested in financing the project. Russian state nuclear corporation officials have said Russia could also be interested.
Last month Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov suggested Belene be built as a pan-Balkan project to boost energy security and connectivity and urged its neighbours in the region to consider the option.
Bulgaria is likely to base its decision on a report by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on the need for new nuclear capacity. The report found that the two-unit Belene project could be economically viable given that its overall investment cost would be under €10.5bn, the price of capital under 4.5% and the ratio of private to public participation higher than 70% to 30%.
