Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said last week that the country would issue a tender in January seeking a financial partner that would help revive the twice-stalled Belene nuclear power plant project, according to a Reuters report.
The Belene project currently envisions a two-reactor plant with a combined capacity of 2,000 megawatts. To date, the China National Nuclear Corporation and Framatome of France – a subsidiary of EDF – have indicated they were interested in bidding on the project. Rosatom is also a potential player, as Petkova said in November that the Russian corporation would be invited to participate.
The invitation to Rosatom is unexpected, given previous Bulgarian intentions to become more independent from Russia in the energy sector.
Bulgaria, however, is now targeting an eight-year construction project for the two-unit plant that would hold to a budget of $10.23 billion.
Petkova also said Bulgaria would not invest more funds in the plant that has cost $712 million before Bulgaria canceled the original project in 2012.