MoU signing comes in the wake of the bilateral agreement signed between India and France
– By Mark McFadden –
AREVA and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in Delhi that will open the way for a future partnership in nuclear power generation in order to build at least two EPR™ reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra State.
This agreement was signed by Dr. S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of NPCIL, and Mrs. Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of AREVA, in the presence of Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Hon'ble Union Minister of State (Prime Minister's Office), Mrs. Anne-Marie Idrac, French Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to Department of Atomic Energy.
With the signing of this MoU, it is now possible to have technical co-operation between NPCIL and AREVA to work on the setting up of two to six AREVA-built EPR™ reactors on NPCIL's Jaitapur site, including life time fuel supply for these units.
This MoU signing comes in the wake of the bilateral agreement signed between India and France on September 30, 2008 in which the two countries agreed to work together for the development of peaceful use of nuclear energy.
India is one of the fastest developing economies and requires a huge addition in power generation to meet the ever growing demand for it. By 2030, the country's installed nuclear capacity could grow to 63 GWe. NPCIL already has 17 units in operation with a total installed capacity of 4,120 MWe and is currently builds 5 units with a total installed capacity of 2,660 MWe.
AREVA already has a strong presence in India through its AREVA T&D India subsidiary, which is the biggest local entity on the electricity transportation and distribution market. It also develops its offer in the generation of electricity from biomass, with AREVA Bioenergy. The group employs more than 4,200 people in India and has eight industrial sites.
EPR™ is a trade mark of AREVA group.