October 8 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant (NPP) Kozloduy said on Wednesday it has invited state-owned power utility NEK to supply it with nuclear equipment worth an estimated 2.8 million levs ($1.6 million/1.4 million euro), VAT excluded, which was intended for the planned Belene NPP.
The equipment from the site of Belene NPP, which is still not operational, will ensure the successful implementation of the programmes for expanding the lifespan of NPP Kozloduy's two functioning 1,000 MW units 5 and 6, the power plant said in a public procurement notice.
Last week, Bulgaria's nuclear regulator granted a ten-year extension of the operational licence of Unit 6 of NPP Kozloduy. In 2017, the nuclear regulator extended by ten years the operational licence of the plant's other operational unit, Unit 5.
The total investment in the extension of the lifespan of the two units amounts to 292 million levs, energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said at the time.
The new equipment will allow NPP Kozloduy's reactors to operate at 104% thermal capacity in line with the requirements set after the conduction of safety tests, the plant said.
In July, Bulgaria's government granted approval to NEK to sell part of the equipment delivered for Belene NPP to NPP Kozloduy. The equipment includes filters, fans and other items.
Belene NPP is a project abandoned since 2012 which the government aims to revive. In December 2016, following international arbitration, Bulgaria paid some 600 million euro ($659 million) in compensation to Russia's Atomstroyexport for the equipment already manufactured by the company for the project. The equipment is now stored at the site designated for the construction of the power plant.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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