Canada’s Laurentis Energy Partners (LEP), with its subsidiary Canadian Nuclear Partners SA (CNPSA) and BWXT Canada have signed a contract as a three-party consortium, to advance two new Westinghouse AP1000 reactor units (units 7&8) planned at Bulgaria’s Kozloduy NNP. The contract was signed with Kozloduy NPP subsidiary, Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild (KZNPP-NM – Kozloduy NPP Novi Mostnosti).
The owner’s engineer contract is valued at hundreds of millions of euros and spans up to ten years, providing sustained engineering and project oversight through all major phases of the programme. An owner engineer is an independent professional or consulting firm hired by the project owner to provide technical expertise and support throughout the construction project.
The document was signed at the Council of Ministers in Sofia during an event attended by Ontario’s Minister of Energy & Mines, Stephen Lecce, Bulgaria’s Minister of Energy, Zhecho Stankov, and senior representatives of the consortium.
The consortium will support KZNPP-NM by exercising investor oversight and monitoring processes related to the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the new nuclear units, including initial engineering activities, the Energy Ministry said. It will provide specialised technical advisory services and project-management oversight across all stages of the Kozloduy new build project to help ensure alignment with project objectives, regulatory requirements, safety expectations, and delivery strategy.
The work is structured into two phases: Phase 1 focuses on pre-Final Investment Decision (FID) activities, including front-end engineering, constructability reviews, early project planning, and preparation for Engineering, Procurement & Construction negotiations. Pending the Bulgarian government’s decision to proceed, Phase 2 extends the consortium’s support through design, construction, and commissioning.
Bulgaria and the US signed a formal agreement in February 2024 to collaborate on the construction of two new units at the Kozloduy NPP (7&8). In January 2023, the Bulgarian Parliament affirmed the need to build two new reactors using AP1000 technology and obliged the government to negotiate with the US government on the issue. The following March KZNPP-NM and Westinghouse set up a joint working group to plan AP1000 reactor deployment in Bulgaria.
In June 2023, Westinghouse signed a Front-End Engineering & Design (FEED) contract with KZNPP-NM for a AP1000 reactor to be constructed at the Kozloduy NPP site. In 2024, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Westinghouse and KZNPP-NM signed an engineering contract for the new capacity whereby Hyundai would undertake construction. The aim is for unit 7 to be operational in 2035 and unit 8 in 2037. At the time Ministers said the contract meant that schedule and finance details were expected within 12 months.
Currently, Kozloduy NPP operates two Soviet-built VVER-1000 reactors (units 5&6). Bulgaria was obliged to close four older VVER-440 units as a condition for accession to the European Union, even though the units had undergone significant safety upgrades. Units 5&6 were connected to the grid in 1987 and 1991and have undergone refurbishment and life-extension programmes to extend operation from 30 to 60 years. They generate about one-third of Bulgaria’s electricity. The Government has designated the expansion (units 7&8) “a project of strategic importance” for national and regional energy security.
“Our country has secured leading international partners with proven experience across the full nuclear lifecycle – from design through commissioning,” said Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov. “This project is an investment not only in our long-term energy security, but also in the strength of Bulgarian industry. Thirty percent of the specialists working on the project will be Bulgarian experts, providing our workforce with new knowledge, advanced technologies, and meaningful growth opportunities.” He added that the contract was the most important one before the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract, which he said was expected to be signed during 2026.
Leslie McWilliams, President and CEO of Laurentis Energy Partners noted: “This contract reflects the confidence placed in Canadian nuclear capability for complex new-build programs. We’re honoured to work alongside our partners in supporting Bulgaria’s long-term clean-energy goals and strengthening the country’s energy security for generations to come.”
KZNPP-NM Executive Director Petyo Ivanov said: “This is another key step in the implementation of the new nuclear capacity in Bulgaria. The companies have many years of experience in providing these services, which guarantees that the project will be completed on time, within budget, and in full compliance with regulatory standards.”
Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry and US Citi Bank in July agreed a partnership to secure funding for the construction of units 7&8 at the Kozloduy NPP between Citi Bank and KZNPP-NM. However, overall finance is still unclear, as Bulgarian economic media have commented.
Economic.bg noted that the value of the new owners’ engineer contract was not specified while “the price of the entire project for construction of the 7th and 8th units in the AEC Kozloduy is not clear. When the project was launched… then Energy Minister Rumen Radev said the two reactors would cost maximum €14bn and will also be built only by the state without the participation of private investors. At the beginning of his term as an energy minister Stankov promised the price would be clear by June 2025. Five months after the deadline, no one talks about how much this large-scale project will cost.”
The paper cited energy expert Professor Georgi Kaschiev as saying a price of €14bn ($16.2bn) was impossible, noting that the last two AP1000s built in the US were 10 years behind schedule and cost $36.5bn, while the three units planned for Poland were expected to cost $47bn.
Investor.bg noted that nuclear plants were mostly funded by export credit agencies not by commercial banks, but this requires 100% government guarantees. The paper quoted KZNPP-NM head Petyo Ivanov as saying the US and South Korea’s export credit agencies had each committed $8bn to the project, which meant that the Bulgarian state must provide guarantees for about $16bn. KZNPP-NM cannot commit to financing construction which means that capital must be recruited either from the Ministry of Finance’s own resources or through debt issuance.
Petyo said the Bulgarian state set aside €1.5bn in the budget for 2024 in the form of state guarantees for the project, which were not used and will be transferred to 2026 Budget. For 2027, however, there will have to be an increase, because the first activities are already envisaged and the project company will have to have funds.
