site.btaGovernment Proposes Re-start of Belene N-plant Project

Sofia, May 16 (BTA) - The Government proposes restarting the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant project on a market principle. Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova briefed reporters Wednesday on a decision of the Council of Ministers implementing a resolution of Parliament of March 2, 2018, which commissioned the Energy Ministry to draw up a report on the utilization of the Belene assets and submit it to Parliament by June 30.

A working group of energy experts had been tasked with studying all possible options to utilize the equipment meant for the project, which was abandoned in 2012 as unfeasible.

In 2016 this country was ordered by an arbitration court to pay 1,170 million leva to the Russian contractor AtomStroyExport for two reactors it had already built for Belene. At present, both reactors are being stored in Bulgaria.

Petkova said that the motion she submitted at Wednesday's regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, along with the report of the working group, is to make an attempt whereby the Belene N-plant project is implemented on a market principle, renewal of the activities related to the implementation of the project through selection of strategic investor, without state guarantees on the part of Bulgaria and without concluding long-term agreements on purchase of power produced by Belene.

The legal means will be through separation of the assets and liabilities of the National Electricity Company (NEK) in a separate company. Petkova said that such a procedure will need to be started, adding that the legal backing of the procedure is to be prepared by the end of the year so that the procedure is carried out to see in reality what the investor interest is. She said that serious investor interest in the project has been repeatedly expressed in the past year. The Minister argued that only by means of a competitive procedure will it become clear whether the investor interest is real.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that a moratorium imposed on the construction of Belene by his previous cabinet in March 2012 should be lifted to enable the National Assembly to mandate a start of talks with investors. Last week, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) confirmed its investment interest in the Belene project.

Presenting options analysed by the working group for the most rational use of the Belene assets, Petkova said that one of these is to undertake no actions regarding the equipment, in which slightly over 3 billion leva have been invested. In her words, this is the worst option in view of energy security, because the analysis shows that in the coming years new capacity bases will be needed not only in Bulgaria but also in the whole region. Another option is to sell the equipment to a third party, but the analysis shows that this would be hard to implement and almost impossible. A third option analysed by the working group envisages the use of one of the two reactors for the construction of a new, seventh unit at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

Presenting options for the Belene project's implementation, Petkova said one of these is that NEK and the Bulgarian Energy Holding retain their private participation in the project. She described this as a not very probable option because the companies do not have the financial opportunity to participate in such a large-scale project, the initial cost of which is around 20 billion leva. The project could be implemented entirely by a private investor, but this option is not good for the State either, the Energy Ministry went on to say. One of the best options is that NEK participate with the assets available in relation to the project's implementation, which involves the launch of a procedure for the selection of a strategic investor, she noted.

Speaking at the same news briefing, Deputy Prime Minister Donchev said that if the market reacts to the decision to re-start the Belene project and shows that a new capacity has a future, the power plant will be built. He specified that the project will either be implemented on a market principle or it will not be implemented at all. In his words, the market principle entails implementation of the project without state guarantees and without concluding long-term agreements on purchase of power produced by Belene, with the expectation that the energy price would be attractive enough to have the electricity purchased on as well as outside of the Bulgarian market.