Bulgaria Allocates 157.3 Mln Euro to Speed up Belene Nuke Plant Project

BEH was set up recently as a holding group incorporating state-owned power generation and transmission capacities, including the nation’s power grid operator NEK which will own 51% of the 2,000 megawatt (MW) Belene plant.

The capital increase will cover NEK’s spending on the project, estimated at 450 million euro ($578.6 million) until the end of 2009, the government said in a statement. NEK will have to make upfront and current payments to order power generation equipment, including a reactor and a steam turbines, draft construction designs and finance initial construction works.

“The decision of the Council of Ministers will be a sign to credit institutions of the cabinet's commitment to the project which will facilitate attracting loan capital and will accelerate the financial closure of the project,” the statement said.

Bulgaria has picked Germany's RWE as a strategic investor for the construction of Belene. RWE will hold 49% of the new company that will be set up to build the plant.

The plant, to be built by Russia's Atomstroyexport along with France's Areva and Germany's Siemens AG, is estimated to cost some four billion euro.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)