Chinese company passes first investment selection stage for Romanian nuclear project

China Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) has passed the first selection stage for the construction of two nuclear reactors at Cernavoda, announced Nuclearelectrica, the state-owned nuclear producer.

The Chinese company was the only one that submitted an offer to build reactors 3 and 4, which require an investment of around EUR 6.4 billion.

CGN is currently the biggest nuclear energy producer in China, operating 11 units with a combined capacity of 11.6 GW. It has another 13 nuclear plans under construction with another 15 GW in capacity. The Chinese company reported last year a turnover of EUR 4.2 billion, while its assets amount to EUR 37.5 billion.

Daniela Lulache, general manager of nuclear producer, said in a statement that the qualified investor has met both technical and nuclear security requirements and has the financial capacity to develop the project.

“The qualified investor has the expertise in operating nuclear units at a capacity factor that proves performance in operation, the expertise in building nuclear units, expertise in carrying out investment projects with a high degree of complexity,” said Lulache.

According to the strategy vetted by Nuclearelectrica for attracting investors, the state can give a 51 percent stake in the nuclear project to potential investors, but will maintain at least a 30 percent stake together with Nuclearelectrica.

Romania has started to look for investors in China after a consortium comprising mainly European utility firms that was supposed to develop the project fully disintegrated at the end of 2013. At present around 20 percent of Romania’s electricity supply is covered from nuclear sources.