Enel and ArcelorMittal plan to sell their stake in new reactors proposed in Romania following China General Nuclear Power Corp.'s announcement that it would invest in the units.
The European companies own just over 15 percent of the $5.4 billion project to build two, 720 megawatt Candu 6 reactors at Cernavoda, with Romanian-state-controlled Nuclearelectrica originally owning the balance. Recently, Romanian officials announced CGNPC would bring additional private investment. Quoting Nuclearelectrica, AFP reported that the prospect of the Chinese firm taking a majority stake in the project prompted Enel to sell.
Romania currently generates 20 percent of its power from units 1 and 2 at Cernavoda, according to the World Nuclear Association. The last change in the investor makeup of the proposed units 3 and 4 came in 2011, when CEZ, RWE and GDF Suez pulled out of the project.