Électricité de France (EDF) has been awarded a contract worth €175m ($205m) to refurbish the turbogenerator at unit 1 of Romania’s Cernavodă NPP. The agreement was signed between Romanian nuclear utility SN Nuclearelectrica (SNN) and two EDF subsidiaries – Arabelle Service France and its Romanian branch, Arabelle Solutions Romania.
The Cernavodă site houses two Candu 6 pressurised heavy water reactors (units 1&2) on a site originally constructed for five. Unit 1 went into commercial operation in 1996 and unit 2 in 2007. Construction of three more units began but was stopped in 1990 when unit 3 was 52% complete and unit 4 30% complete. The two 720 MWe operating units provide about 20% of Romania’s power.
In December 2024, SNN signed a €1.9bn engineering, procurement & construction contract with an international consortium to refurbish unit 1 of the plant and extend its life by 30 years. Earlier in 2024, SNN signed a CAD360m ($260m) deal with Canadian Nuclear Partners for services related to refurbishing Cernavodă 1.
EDF took over all European nuclear steam turbine operations from GE Vernova in 2024. GE Vernova, the energy equipment and services arm spun off from General Electric in 2021, had previously controlled Arabelle Solutions.
