China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has signed a letter of intent with Romania's Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica (SNN) on construction of units 3 & 4 of Cernavoda NPP.
The agreement was signed on 25 November 2013 and was witnessed by Chinese premier Li Keqiang and Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta.
The Cernavoda site is home to two CANDU 6 reactors, which started up in 1996 and 2007. Construction of two additional units has been approved, but has been delayed due to lack of investment. State-owned Nuclearelectrica currently owns over 85% of the project and is seeking investors. CGN said that the project is worth "more than $5.4 billion," and that the Cernavoda 3&4 are expected to be completed in 2019 and 2020.
Candu Energy welcomed the agreement and said that it is "ready to participate" in the delivery of the two new CANDU nuclear power plants. "We have strong ties in Romania through our previous CANDU projects there and are excited about the opportunity to deliver two more units," said Ala Alizadeh, Candu Energy senior vice president, marketing and business development.
The news comes after CGN and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) signed a letter of intent with EDF Energy that would see them take a stake in the planned Hinkley C nuclear plant in the UK.
Photo: CGN and SNN sign the letter of intent, 25 November 2013 (Source: CGN)
