05 Jan (NucNet): Brazilian national development bank BNDES has approved 6.1 billion Brazilian reais (3.6 billion US dollars, 2.7 billion euro) of financing for the construction of the country’s third nuclear unit, Angra-3.
The loan will cover about 59 percent of the total costs of the project, estimated at USD 5.9 billion, BNDES said in a statement. The BNDES loan is for 20 years following a five-year grace period.
Eletronuclear, the nuclear unit of state-controlled utility Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras, is building the unit in the municipality of Angra dos Reis, close to the city of Rio de Janeiro.
In its own statement confirming the funding Eletronuclear said the loan will be supplemented by USD 2.13 billion in loans from banks outside Brazil.
Angra-3 is expected to begin commercial operation in December 2015, Eletronuclear said in the statement.
Construction of the 1,400-megawatt Angra-3 unit was started in 1984 and halted in 1986 because of a lack of financing. In 2007, a government energy policy committee authorised completion of the unit, and the country's nuclear regulator granted a construction permit in May 2010.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Brazil’s Angra Service Contracts Awarded To Areva (News in Brief No. 71, 17 June 2008)
Brazil’s Eletronuclear Planning Four New 1,000 MW Units (World Nuclear Review No. 123, 19 September 2008)
