Bulgaria’s Council of Ministers has approved a plan in which Westinghouse will provide plant equipment, design, engineering and fuel for a new AP1000 reactor at the existing Kozloduy nuclear site.
As part of its role, Westinghouse will also issue a competitive tender ‘within a year’ for engineering, procurement and construction for the unit, Kozloduy 7. The process is expected to involve Bulgarian and global construction companies.
Little information has been released about the structure of the project, but Westinghouse said that it has given Bulgaria an (unspecified) "commercially attractive price" to build the plant, and that it will not remain an equity investor in the project past completion.
"Westinghouse’s stake in the project company during construction incentivizes Westinghouse to build a plant that meets international and Bulgarian safety standards, on schedule and within budget," it said.
The Kozloduy expansion is being undertaken by Kozloduy NPP-New Builds plc, a subsidiary of state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding.
Kozloduy 7 is expected to be online by 2023, and will have an operational lifetime of 60 years.
