The announced financing includes a Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for up to $99 million under the EXIM Engineering Multiplier program. This funding will support the procurement of “long lead time materials, Phase 2 FEED design work, provision of project management expertise, site characterization and regulatory analysis, and development of a site-specific schedule and budget for project execution.”
EXIM and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation have also issued Letters of Interest for “potential financial support of up to $3 billion and $1 billion, respectively, for project deployment.” The announcement is part of the G7 leaders’ plan to “mobilize $600 billion in infrastructure investment through the Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership.
Phase 1 of the project in progress
NuScale and RoPower Nuclear, jointly owned by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power and Gas of Romania, are conducting a Phase 1 study to analyze the preferred site for the first VOYGR-6 SMR nuclear power plant, which is a former coal-fired power plant in Doicesti, Romania. The new funding will support the Phase 2 study, which will also initiate the permitting and licensing process for the project.
Nuclearelectrica said that the partners involved in financing the project are the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, DS Private Equity (Korea), EXIM Bank of Romania, Nuclearelectrica, Nova Power & Gas, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), DFC and US EXIM. The company stressed that the participation of ENEC was the first collaborative measure following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Nuclearelectrica and ENEC in March.
The NuScale power module on which the VOYGR nuclear power plants are based is a pressurized water reactor with all the necessary components for steam generation and heat exchange incorporated into a single 77 MWe unit. This is the first SMR model to receive approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The company offers a 12-module VOYGR-12 power plant capable of producing 924 MWe, as well as 4-module VOYGR-4 (308 MWe) and 6-module VOYGR-6 (462 MWe) plants and other configurations according to customer needs.
