Bulgaria's Kozloduy N-Plant Meets 2009 Output Target of 15 Mln MWh

The plant's two units of 1,000 MW each, will be running at 100% capacity by the end of the year, the plant said in a statement.

Kozloduy's gross electricity production rose by 7.7% to 15.765 million MWh in 2008. Its net electricity production totalled 14.742 million MWh last year, 15% above plan and higher than the 2007 output of 13.69 million MWh.

Nuclear power accounts for about a third of the country’s electricity production. The Kozloduy plant, on the Danube river, generated 35.2% of Bulgaria’s electricity output last year.

Kozloduy, once operating six units with a combined installed capacity of 3,760 MW, has remained with just two operating reactors of 1,000 MW each after the government closed down the plant's four 440-MW units to address nuclear safety concerns of the European Union prior to the country's accession to the bloc. Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007.