March 11 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's energy ministry said on Monday that it has launched a procedure to select a strategic investor in a project for the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Belene, on the Danube.
The candidates can also state their interest in acquiring a minority interest in the future project company, and/or in buying electricity from the planned NPP, the energy ministry said in a statement.
"This call aims to provide certain information to the parties wishing to express their interest in participating in the procedure," it added.
Belene NPP must be built on a market basis, as the state will not sign with the investor long-term power purchase agreements, nor provide state guarantees, the ministry underlined.
Bulgaria will participate in the project company via a non-monetary contribution - the reactors and other equipment plus the construction site and the respective licences.
The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is the 90th day following the publication of the invitation in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The procedure is expected to be completed within one year.
In June 2018, Bulgaria's government mandated the energy minister to seek options for the construction of an NPP in Belene with the participation of a strategic investor.
In December 2016, following international arbitration, Bulgaria paid 601.6 million euro ($676.6 million) in compensation to Atomstroyexport for the equipment already manufactured by the Russian company for the project. The equipment is now stored at the site designated for the construction of the power plant.
In 2008, the then Socialist-led government broke ground for the plant in Belene, on the Danube river, after a long pause and hired Atomstroyexport to build two reactors for the plant. After the project made scant headway, Bulgaria finally abandoned it with a parliament decision in February 2013, citing huge construction costs and unclear prospects for the sale of the electricity produced by the plant.
($ = 0.8891 euro)