The financing of Block 7 at the Kozloduy NPP: Option is 30% state participation and 70% of the banks

The financing of the construction of the Seventh and Eighth Blocks at the Kozloduy NPP will become clear after the engineering procedures and the distribution of tasks among the participating companies. This was explained by Valentin Nikolov, executive director of the nuclear power plant during the conference "Possibilities of nuclear technologies for decarbonization of energy in Europe - technologies, projects, services". It is organized by the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum, and the media partner is 3eNews.

According to the director, for the moment, the idea of the state participating with 30% of its own financing for the future project and seeking 70% financing from various banks is being considered. So far, American export banks have shown interest in partially financing such construction. They would like to finance only the American equipment for the project, Nikolov explained to the forum participants. Once the financing is specified, the final investment decision for the construction of the two blocks will be taken, the director explained.

The financial assessment of the project is complicated because it is not clear exactly how much of the current Kozloduy NPP infrastructure will be used and how many new facilities will be built. It is not even clear yet exactly where the future nuclear specialists involved in the construction can be accommodated.

In the next two months, the contract between Kozloduy NPP and Westinghouse for preliminary engineering activities (Front-End Engineering & Design, FEED) for the Kozloduy site is expected to be concluded. After the conclusion of this contract, a new one is expected to be signed - which will be for the engineering of the new blocks. This is expected to happen in April this year, Nikolov explained. It is expected that this contract will be approved and prepared by the new team of Kozloduy NPP - New Powers with director Petyo Ivanov.

Nikolov himself recalled that the EIA procedure of the Seventh Unit of the Kozloduy NPP lasted six years, taking into account the appeals. At the conference, he wished that the EIA for the eighth block would be significantly shorter in time. Our country will also start negotiations to notify the European Commission of the construction of a new nuclear facility. Our country is expected to be the first in the EU to have an approved nuclear project with the AP 1000 technology. According to calculations, between 5,000 and 10,000 people will be involved in the construction activities of the two new units.

In addition to new social infrastructure, there will be an inspection of the roads in the Kozloduy area, at the port, it became clear from Nikolov's words.

The Director expects several companies to show interest in the construction of the Seventh Unit of the Kozloduy NPP. So far, Hyundai and Bechtel Corporation have expressed interest, and American Fluor, specializing in the construction of small modular reactors, is also expected to announce interest.

"Westinghouse" is not involved in the selection of the builder, but is only a supplier of the technology. According to Valentin Nikolov, the deadlines are ambitious, but Bulgaria must be the first to adopt the technology.

At the moment, there is a decision to select a builder only for block 7 of the Kozloduy NPP, while block 8 is pending. Most likely, in order to avoid a second round of negotiations, the procedure for block 8 will be included in the current one. "In any case, the builder will most likely build both blocks," the executive director shared his opinion.