Five companies submitted applications of interest to build new nuclear facilities at Kozloduy NPP

The Ministry of Energy informs that 5 companies have expressed interest in the announcement of Kozloduy NPP New Powers EAD to undertake construction of the 7th and 8th units at site No. 2 of our nuclear power plant with AR-1000 technology. The requalification procedure is in compliance with a decision of the National Assembly of 18.12.2023. The application deadline expired on February 2, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.

A committee will consider the attached documentation from the beginning of next week. Applicants are required to demonstrate experience in the construction and commissioning of a minimum of two nuclear units, to have worked within a nuclear or turbine island of at least two units, or to have supplied and installed equipment for two units within the last 15 years.

Applicants interested in the project should be able to demonstrate at least $6 billion in turnover and profit over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022.

The Ministry of Energy and the Kozloduy NPP did not announce the names of the companies invited to participate in the short list for the construction of a new nuclear unit.

A week ago, the surprising director of Kozloduy NPP, Valentin Nikolov, announced that he expects five companies to participate in the procedure. These are the American companies "Bechtel" and "Fluor", the Korean "Hyundai". The expectations of the experts are the participation of the Chinese CNNC and the French EDF in the procedure.

For the implementation of the seventh unit of the Kozloduy NPP, an option is being considered that about 30 percent should be self-financing, and for the rest, a syndicated loan from banks should be sought. Preliminary talks have already been held with banks that want to finance the specific American equipment.

The state also started the EIA procedure for block 8 of the Kozloduy NPP. For the successful completion of the environmental assessment for the seventh unit, this process took about six years. From 5,000 to 10,000 people are expected to be directly involved in the construction of the two new blocks and the accompanying activities, Nikolov pointed out during a BEMF conference in Sofia a week ago.

The government's intentions are that in 2034 block 7 will be included in the country's energy network. For this purpose, already this month, Bulgaria and the USA are expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement for the production of a unit with AP 1000 technology. The expectations of Energy Minister Rumen Radev are that the signing of the agreement will take place in parallel, both in Bulgaria and in the USA. After that, the document must be ratified by the Bulgarian Parliament and the US Senate.