Romanian Govt. drafts bill on public support for EUR 6 bln nuclear power project

Romania's Government on December 19 passed the draft law that sets the terms for the public support provided to the EUR 6 bln project of two new reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear plant.

The state will provide full guarantees for the financing contracted by the project company EnergoNuclear and will also guarantee a certain price for the electricity produced, under Contract for Difference (CfD), Profit.ro reported. The Government will seek to get European Union’s permission to qualify both measures as extra-budgetary operations – but if this is not possible, it will accommodate the related measures within the general government budget.

The intermediate investment decision should be taken by May 30, 2023, and the final decision by May 31, 2025 – but both deadlines can be extended.

The 3rd reactor would be completed in 2030, and the 4th in 2031.

The project has three stages: the preparatory stage (24 months) for the updating of the specific documentation for the initiation of the project; the preliminary works (30 months) for getting the financing, the approvals and agreeing on an appropriate contractual architecture for the implementation of the project; and the construction stage (2026-2030/2031).

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