May 14 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Monday the government would be happy if the project for construction of Belene nuclear power plant, which it plans to restart, attracts the interest of French nuclear energy business Framatome.
The government plans to launch a procedure for selecting a strategic investor for the Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project by the end of the year, in case the parliament lifts the moratorium on the project, Petkova said in a statement.
"We would be glad if Framatome takes part in such a procedure," Temenuzhka Petkova said.
According to Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome, the company is interested in the project and is following closely its development, the statement reads.
"This is a good opportunity to deepen our cooperation with another European country," Fontana is quoted as saying during a meeting with Petkova at Atomexpo 2018 international forum taking place in Sochi, Russia from May 14 to May 16.
The working group within the energy ministry tasked with exploring the options for the use of the equipment already manufactured for the Belene project will have its report ready in a few days and it will be submitted to parliament, Petkova said.
"At the moment we are looking for a possibility to use the available equipment in the best possible way in line with national interest. We have the equipment, the licensed site, the project has been notified by the European Commission. Bulgaria could take part in the project through its assets," Petkova added.
During the weekend, Bulgarian public television BNT quoted prime minister Boyko Borissov as saying that the government will propose to parliament to lift the moratorium on the construction of a second nuclear power plant (NPP) in the country in order to launch talks with potential investors.
The moratorium should be lifted before the 16+1 summit in Sofia of the countries in Southeast Europe and China in July, Borissov said.
The energy ministry said last week that China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has confirmed its interest in investing in the construction of the future NPP.
The Bulgarian government has said it plans to issue no guarantees for the project, nor sign long-term power purchase agreements.
In 2008, Bulgaria hired Atomstroyexport to build a nuclear plant in Belene, reviving a project that had been mothballed for nearly two decades. After the project made scant headway, Sofia finally abandoned it with a parliament decision in February 2013. The government cancelled the project a year earlier due to disagreement over its estimated cost and failure to attract a strategic investor.
In December 2016, Bulgaria's state-owned National Electricity Company paid 601.6 million euro ($720.5 million) as compensation to Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom, for the equipment already manufactured by the Russian company for the Belene project, which Bulgaria had abandoned.
Bulgaria has another NPP, Kozloduy, which has two operating units of 1,000 megawatts each.
Framatome designs, manufactures, and installs components, fuel and instrumentation and control systems for nuclear power plants and offers a full range of reactor services. Framatome is owned by the EDF Group (75.5%), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI – 19.5%) and Assystem (5%).
($=0.8349 euro)