BUCHAREST (Romania), January 19 (SeeNews) – German power group RWE may sell its 9.15% stake in EnergoNuclear, the project company for the construction of two reactors at Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant, Bucharest-based daily Ziarul Financiar reported on Wednesday.
"It is 90% sure that RWE will leave this project. Again the state will buy this participation, because it has no other choice," ZF (www.zf.ro) quoted unnamed sources from the Romanian Economy Ministry as saying.
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A RWE spokesman declined to comment when contacted by SeeNews.
ZF also reported that RWE has exited a 250 million euro wind energy project in southeastern Romania because of bureaucracy.
“[…] we decided to leave this wind project by selling our 90% stake to the project’s developer [Sabloal Energie Eoliana]”, ZF quoted RWE's head for wind energy projects in southeastern Europe and Turkey, Karin Canta, as saying.
Canta also said that RWE would make an official announcement with regard to Romania's second pair of nuclear reactors next week.
Earlier this month Czech power group CEZ sold its 9.15% stake in EnergoNuclear to the Romanian state. Before the acquisition, Romania owned 51% of the project company through Nuclearelectrica, the company which operates the Cernavoda nuclear power plant.
Other shareholders in EnergoNuclear are French GDF Suez and Italy’s Enel with stakes of 9.15% each. Spain's Iberdrola and ArcelorMittal Romania hold stakes of 6.20% each.
Cernavoda operates two reactors of 700 megawatts each that satisfy around 18% of domestic electricity consumption. The second pair of reactors will have similar installed capacities.
The construction cost of the pair of new reactors has been projected at around 4.0 billion euro ($5.4 billion).
($ = 0.7436 euro)