Hyundai E&C likely to win Bulgaria’s nuclear project

South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. (Hyundai E&C) was picked as the preferred bidder for Bulgaria's new nuclear reactor project after getting the nod from the European country’s parliament to proceed with the construction, the company said on Sunday.

Hyundai E&C said it was the only bidder that met all the strict requirements presented by the Bulgarian government to build two nuclear reactors within the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. Other bidders include US engineering and construction companies Bechtel Corp. and Fluor Corp.

Upon completion of negotiations with Bulgaria’s nuclear power state agency around April this year, Hyundai E&C will likely sign a final agreement to build the country's seventh and eighth reactors with a combined 2,200 megawatts in capacity.

The Kozloduy nuclear power plant, built in 1969, is Bulgaria’s only nuclear power plant and generates one-third of the electricity in the country. It is located around 180 kilometers north of its capital Sofia.

Its fifth and sixth reactors made by Russia are in operation after the first four reactors were closed. The seventh and eighth reactors are expected to be up and running from 2035.

Hyundai E&C has strengthened its experience in nuclear reactor construction after building 24 of the 36 large reactors in South Korea.

South Korea is stepping up efforts to bag nuclear reactor deals from the Middle East and Eastern Europe since President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May 2022.

During his presidential campaign, he pledged to roll back the previous administration’s nuclear phase-out policy and increase the country's dependence on nuclear energy to achieve its carbon-free goals.

“This will signal a revival of the South Korean nuclear industry, which has been stagnant due to the nuclear phase-out policy,” said a Hyundai E&C official.

The country aims to bag 5 trillion won worth of global nuclear reactor orders in areas such as plant construction and refurbishment by 2027, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy said last year.

Write to Jin-Woo Park at jwp@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.