June 27 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's government said on Wednesday it mandated the energy minister to seek options for the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Belene with the participation of a strategic investor - in line with the parliament's decision adopted earlier this month.
Belene NPP must be built on a market basis and without state guarantees, the government said in a statement.
Energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova should draft a procedure for selecting a strategic investor by October 31.
Petkova is also expected to organise, coordinate and control the negotiations with potential investors and equipment manufacturers.
Earlier this month, the energy ministry said it has received an official letter from French energy group Areva, in which the company says it is interested in participating in the Belene NPP project. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and Russia's Rosatom have also expressed interest in participating in the project.
In May, the government asked parliament for a mandate to negotiate with potential strategic investors in the project and submitted a report on the options for its revival drafted by the energy ministry. An analysis by the ministry has shown that the most appropriate option for rational use of the existing equipment is to resume the construction of the unfinished power plant jointly with a strategic investor, on a market basis and without Bulgarian state guarantees. By using this option Bulgaria could recover the costs incurred over the years since the start of the project in the 1890s and will ensure the country's energy security in the long term, the government said.
Regarding the financial expenses related to the project, prime minister Boyko Borissov and the energy minister have stressed on several occasions that Bulgaria will only participate in the project company via a non-monetary contribution - the reactors and other equipment plus the construction site and the respective licences.
In December 2016, following international arbitration, Bulgaria paid 601.6 million euro ($697.8 million) in compensation to Atomstroyexport for the equipment already manufactured by the Russian company for the project. The equipment is now stored at the site designated for the construction of the power plant.
In 2008, the then Socialist-led government broke ground for the plant in Belene, on the Danube river, after a long pause and hired Atomstroyexport to build two reactors for the plant. After the project made scant headway, Bulgaria finally abandoned it with a parliament decision in February 2013, citing huge construction costs and unclear prospects for the sale of the electricity produced by the plant.
($ = 0.8623 euro)