April 30 (SeeNews) - The preparation of binding offers for participation in Bulgaria's project for construction of Belene nuclear power plant will be delayed in view of the continuing state of emergency introduced over the coronavirus pandemic, the energy ministry said on Thursday.
The five shortlisted potential candidates will be able to start preparing their binding bids from the day they will be granted physical access to the data room for the project; therefore the deadline for submitting the prepared offers will be set accordingly, the ministry said in a statement.
Bulgaria has already sent online the information memorandum for the Belene NPP project to all of the five shortlisted potential candidates after they signed a confidentiality agreement earlier this month, the ministry said. The memorandum contains basic information about the project, its national legal framework as well as an analysis of the market environment in the region.
Last year, Bulgaria shortlisted five companies for the 2000-MW project - China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Russia's Atomenergoprom - a subsidiary of Rosatom, France's Framatome, and US-based General Electric.
The Bulgarian state aims to create the best conditions for the participants in order for them to prepare their binding bids in the context of the state of emergency imposed over the COVID-19, the ministry said.
On March 13, Bulgaria's government introduced a countrywide state of emergency to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease. The state of emergency is expected to last until May 13.
Bulgarian energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said last month that the deadline for submitting offers for becoming strategic investor in the Belene NPP project will likely be extended due to the coronavirus crisis, adding that all five shortlisted companies which have announced that they intend to submit binding offers still had interest in the project.
In June 2018, the parliament mandated Petkova to seek potential strategic investors willing to build a nuclear power plant in Belene - a project abandoned since 2012 which the government aims to revive.
The government plans to build Belene NPP on a market basis, as the state does not intend to sign long-term power purchase agreements with the investor or provide state guarantees. Bulgaria will participate in the project company via a non-monetary contribution - the nuclear reactors and other equipment plus the construction site and the respective licences.
In December 2016, following international arbitration, Bulgaria paid some 600 million euro ($652.6 million) in compensation to Russia's Atomstroyexport for the equipment already manufactured by the company for the project. The equipment is now stored at the site designated for the construction of the power plant in Belene, on the Danube river.
($ = 0.919327 euro)