After years of setbacks, Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev turned the first sod of the 2,000 megawatt Belene plant on 3 September.
Bulgaria's Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov labelled the future facility "one of the most important projects in the whole European Union".
The new plant, which is only Bulgaria's second and comes 20 years after the construction of the first in Kozloduy, is expected to become operational in 2013-2014, at an estimated cost of €4 billion. But the plant is expected to bring electricity prices down, because the cost of producing 1kw of electricity at the Belene NPP is as low as 3.7 eurocents.
The project has long received the support of the European Commission, which strongly endorses nuclear as a key technology in efforts to build a low-carbon EU energy system (EurActiv 15/10/07).
The new Bulgarian plant will comprise two third-generation VVER-1000/V-446B reactors of Russian design. The main contractor (with 51%) is Russia's Atomstroyexport in conjunction with France's Areva SA and Germany's Siemens as subcontractors.
For the remaining 49%, Bulgaria's state-owned National Electric Company (NEC) is seeking a European partner. Among those shortlisted are German giant RWE AG and Belgian utility company Electrabel, which may also obtain the deal in a consortium. NEC has also selected French bank BNP Paribas to as lead fundraiser and manager of the project.
While Minister Dimitrov recently said his government would prefer European banks to fund the project, he added that he would not rule out the option of taking advantage of Russia's proposal to provide a loan for Belene from its state budget.
Critics of the project say it will increase the country's energy dependency on Russia. But the Bulgarian government says global energy pressures make the project necessary. Bulgaria also hopes to once again become a leading energy exporter in the Balkan region, which has experienced serious power shortages since the phasing out of units four and five of the Kozloduy NPP on 31 December 2006.
Responding to criticism from environmentalists who claim that Belene is dangerously located in a seismic area, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences recently stated that the location of the plant and the 30km zone around it are among the seismically safest areas in the country.
