June 5 (SeeNews) - China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is awaiting a Bulgarian parliament decision lifting the moratorium on the project for construction of Belene nuclear power plant (NPP), the Bulgarian energy ministry said on Tuesday.
CNNC again confirmed that it is ready to take part in a potential tender for a strategic investor in the project, the ministry said in a statement after energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova met with a senior representative of CNNC.
The Chinese company is aware of the Bulgarian government's position that the potential revival of the project should involve no state guarantees or long-term power purchase contracts, the ministry said.
In May, Bulgaria's 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.
In 2008 the then Socialist-led government broke ground for the plant in Belene, on the Danube river, after a long pause and hired Russia's 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 consruction costs and unclear prospects for the sale of the electricity that will be produced by the plant.
In December 2016, Bulgaria paid 601.6 million euro ($720.5 million) in compensation to Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom, for the equipment already manufactured for the project following international arbitration. The unused equipment is now stored at the site designated for the construction of the power plant.
By using this option Bulgaria could recover the costs incurred over the years since the start of the project and will ensure the country's energy security in the long term, the Bulgarian government said last month.
In May, CNNC confirmed its interest in investing in the Belene NPP project.
Regarding the financial expenses related to the project, prime minister Boyko Borissov and energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova 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 licences.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)