April 16 (SeeNews) - General Electric has confirmed its interest towards taking part in Bulgaria's Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project, the Bulgarian energy ministry said on Tuesday.
The U.S.-based industrial conglomerate may participate as supplier of part of the equipment and project engineer; it could also render assistance in providing part of the financing needed for the project, the energy ministry said in a press release, following a meeting between Bulgarian energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova and GE's representatives at the Atomexpo 2019 international nuclear power industry forum in Sochi, Russia.
"The publishing of the documentation in the Official Journal of the European Union is forthcoming. Then, we'll inform the interested parties in writing that the 90-day term for submitting applications has begun," Petkova said in relation to the procedure for picking a strategic investor in the project that Bulgaria started in mid-March.
In June 2018, Bulgaria's parliament mandated Petkova to seek potential strategic investors willing to build a nuclear power plant in Belene, on the Danube river - a project abandoned since 2012 which the government aims to revive.
According to the decision, the project should be implemented on a market basis, as Bulgaria will not sign long-term power purchase agreements with the investor, nor will it provide state guarantees. Bulgaria would only participate in the project company through a non-monetary contribution - the reactors and other equipment already manufactured plus the construction site and the respective licences.
In December 2016, following international arbitration, Bulgaria paid some 600 million euro ($678 million) in compensation to Russia's Atomstroyexport for the equipment already manufactured by the company for the project. The equipment is now stored at the site designated for the construction of the power plant.
($ = 0.8701 euro)