November 5 (SeeNews) - Nuclearelectrica [BSE:SNN], the operator of Romania's sole nuclear power plant Cernavoda, said on Friday it has signed a teaming agreement with U.S.-based NuScale Power to advance the deployment of NuScale's small modular reactor (SMR) technology in Romania.
Under the agreement signed during the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, NuScale will help Nuclearelectrica evaluate its technology, and together, the organizations will take steps toward deploying a first NuScale 6-module, 462 MWe, power plant in Romania as early as 2027/2028, Nuclearelectrica said in a statement.
The NuScale 6-module power plant is estimated to generate 193 permanent power plant jobs, 1,500 construction jobs, 2,300 manufacturing jobs and help Romania cut 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, according to the statement.
"As Romania aims to diversify its energy portfolio and meet climate goals, NuScale’s advanced technology presents the perfect safe, economic and scalable solution. While world leaders emphasize how critical this moment is in addressing climate change, NuScale’s SMR technology not only represents a pathway to meet Romania’s climate commitments, but also is a means to bolster local economic growth," NuScale chairman and CEO John Hopkins said.
Specifically, the teaming agreement outlines the next significant milestones for Nuclearelectrica and NuScale to develop safe, affordable zero-carbon baseload power technology with a focus on retired coal plant sites, according to the statement. This will support Romanian government's National Recovery and Resilience Plan to phase out 4.59 GWe of coal-fired energy production by 2032.
"Nuclearelectrica is proud to be at the lead, valuing its experience operating at excellent standards and one of the highest performing nuclear plants in the world, into developing the first SMRs in Europe, an energy source that is 100% carbon free and which will reduce environmental footprints and put us on a path toward a zero-emission world," Nuclearelectrica CEO Cosmin Ghita said.
The White House said on Tuesday that the United States and Romania have signed an agreement to build a “first-of-a-kind” SMR plant in Romania.
Portland, Oregon-headquartered NuScale Power is a private company that designs and markets small modular reactors.
Nuclearelectrica shares traded 0.80% higher at 44 lei ($10.3/ 8.9 euro) by 1050 CET on Friday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Romania's energy ministry owns a 82.49% stake in Nuclearelectrica.
(1 euro =4.9486 Romanian lei)