Romania has announced that it has received a financial commitment from the United States of over $3 billion for the construction of two new nuclear reactors, which is expected to begin in the spring of 2023.
The Exim Bank, an American export credit agency, officially handed over two letters of intent to Bucharest, during an event organized on the sidelines of the COP27 in Egypt, according to a tweet by the Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu, who was present at the event.
In a context of energy uncertainty related to the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca welcomed “an important step” towards “energy independence” of the country.
The aid provided by the United States covers “about a third of the amount needed to build the two reactors in Cernavoda (southeast), the rest should be provided by other lines of funding,” he said.
The head of government also outlined a timetable for the work, announcing a start “in March/April 2023” for completion in 2030.
The only nuclear power plant in Romania, Cernavoda has been operational since the 1990s. With a capacity of 1,400 MW, it covers about one fifth of the country’s electricity needs.
Successive governments in this Eastern European country, the poorest in the EU, have struggled for several years to launch expansion and modernization projects at the site, which was originally intended to have five reactors.
Six European companies – GDF Suez, Iberdrola, CEZ, RWE, Enel and ArcelorMittal – initially committed to the project in 2008, but then withdrew one after the other due to uncertainties surrounding the future of the plant.
Bucharest had also broken a financing agreement with the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) in 2020, against a backdrop of growing mistrust of Chinese investment in Europe.
