KHNP closes in on Romania’s nuclear plant refurbishment project

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) is eyeing to participate in a project to refurbish Romania-based Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant’s unit 1, the state-backed energy firm in South Korea said on Thursday.  

KHNP said it signed a contract with Canada’s Candu Energy Inc. and Italia’s Ansaldo Nucleare SpA on Oct. 12 in Bucharest to form a consortium for the refurbishment work. 

With a 700 megawatt capacity, unit 1 began its commercial operation in 1996 and has accounted for 9% of Romania’s energy consumption over the past 25 years.

The refurbishment began in 2017, aiming to extend the unit's lifetime by 30 years after the completion of the project in 2029. The total cost is estimated to reach €1.9 billion ($2 billion), without considering the financing costs and inflation rate, according to SNN’s website.

The consortium’s work will make up around 40% of the entire project, according to energy industry sources. 

KHNP is planning to work with Korean companies including Doosan Enerbility Co., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Samsung C&T Corp. and small and mid-sized enterprises for the project. 

When the binding contract is signed, it will mark KHNP’s extended partnership with SNN.

In June, the Korean power supplier received a 260 billion won ($194.2 million) order from the Romanian nuclear energy firm to build a tritium removal facility at Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant. The construction is scheduled to be finished around August 2026.

Korea is stepping up the country’s nuclear power plant business as President Yoon Seok Yeol has pledged to reverse the nuclear phase-out policy of the previous government.  

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy said in March that the country will boost nuclear energy exports, aiming for 5 trillion won of global orders in areas such as plant construction and refurbishment by 2027.

The government also said in July it is considering building more domestic nuclear power reactors. In its latest energy scheme, the 10th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand released in January, the country aims to increase the nuclear power proportion of the total energy mix from 27.4% in 2021 to 32.4% in 2030. 

Write to Sul-Gi Lee at surugi@hankyung.com



Jihyun Kim edited this article.