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The History of the Belene NPP Project in Bulgaria

2023-07-12

The plan to construct a nuclear power plant at the Danube in Bulgaria stems from the 70ies of the last century when Bulgaria was still a part of the Soviet sphere of influence.

  • In the 70ies, studies for the selection of a site for a second NPP started.
  • 1981: The government approves the Belene site for the construction of a second NPP.
  • 1987: Construction work has begun on the project, which envisages four units with Russian VVER-1000/V-320 reactors.
  • 1990: The project is reduced to two units and construction work has been limited due to lack of funding.
  • 1991: The government of Dimitar Popov decided to freeze the project.
  • January 26, 2000: The Supreme Expert Technical Council of the State Agency for Energy and Energy Resources and NEK determine the site at the “Belene” NPP as preferred for the construction of a new nuclear power plant. The decision has no legal force.
  • October 2016: The prosecutor’s office accused the two former directors of NEK Mardik Papazyan and Lyubomir Velkov having signed additional agreement for “Belene” with the Russians side. Later, the former minister’s Rumen Ovcharov, Petar Dimitrov, and Delyan Dobrev started defending the NPP “Belene” project.
  • November 2016: The Bulgarian energy holding commissions BAS to prepare a comprehensive analysis for the future of the Belene NPP.
  • June 2017: “Rosatom” is interested in participating in the project for a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria as the engineering company. This became clear at a meeting of Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova with the general director of the Russian corporation Alexey Likhachev.
  • July 2017: “It is realistic to announce a procedure for the privatization of the Belene NPP project by the end of the year, to see if there will be private interest in its construction,” said Energy Minister Temenuzka Petkova.
  • November 2017: A summary of an economic analysis of the BAS is presented; manipulatively prepared scenarios show that the construction of the plant is economically justified.
  • December 2017: The National Assembly instructed the Minister of Energy to prepare a report on the possibilities for the implementation of the project by June 30, 2018.
  • February 2018: Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced a “new” idea for the implementation of the Belene NPP project – to make it a pan-Balkan project to be financed with the help of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), including the already purchased reactors for the unbuilt nuclear power plant.
  • May 16, 2018: The Council of Ministers decided to resume the Belene NPP project and sent it to the parliament for consideration. The decision gave Energy Minister Temenuzka Petkova until October 31 to prepare a procedure for selecting a strategic investor.
  • May 2018: President Rumen Radev and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov were on separate official visits to Russia and met with Vladimir Putin. Among the main topics of the talks was the Belene NPP.
  • June 7, 2018: The National Assembly (without the votes of the DPS) gave the government a mandate to negotiate with potential plant investors.
  • June 27, 2018: Boyko Borisov’s government has officially lifted the moratorium on the construction of the Belene NPP since 2012.
  • September 2018: “Worley Parsons” demanded €37 million from NEC for a terminated contract for the Belene NPP under Dragomir Stoynev at the end of 2013.
  • March 2019: With a delay of 6 months, NEK announced a procedure for selecting a strategic investor for the “Belene” NPP, but the actual start was May 22, after it has been published in the Official Journal of the EU. Under the terms, the state does not have to participate with financing or guarantees to buy the energy.
  • March 2019: The director of “Rosatom” Alexey Likhachev announced to Russian media that the company will participate in the tender for the construction of the second nuclear power plant in Bulgaria only if the conditions guarantee the profitability of the project.
  • August 2019: The “Belene” tendering procedure received a total of 13 applications – seven for strategic investors, two for equipment suppliers and technical activities and four intentions for minority participation and purchase of electricity. The real intentions, however, lie primarily with Russia’s Rosatom, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), and Korea’s Hydro-Atomic Corporation. France’s Framatome (formerly Areva) and General Electric will also be suppliers and contractors who can also participate in the financial structuring of the project, but without becoming shareholders. These five remain on the shortlist.
  • August 2019: The electricity system operator does not include Belene NPP in its 10-year forecast for the development of the sector.
  • June 2020: Three of the five companies on the shortlist for the talks announced that they had reached an agreement to cooperate and were effectively forming an alliance; those are the Russian corporation “Rosatom” and the companies Framatome (France) and GE Steam Power (USA) who have declared their readiness to supply equipment.
  • November 2020: North Macedonia officially announces that it will not participate with 25% in the Belene NPP project.
  • December 2020: The American ambassador Hero Mustafa is on an official visit to the Kozloduy NPP, during which he delivers a definite message from the USA: Russian equipment for the Belene NPP can be used for a new unit in Kozloduy in combination with American technologies.
  • January 2021: Against the background of the looming parliamentary elections, without taking into account the efforts to revive the Belene NPP and to organize procedures to attract investors, the government of Boyko Borisov announced that the paid and delivered two Russian reactors for Belene will be used the units 7 and 8 of the Kozloduy NPP.
  • January 2023: President Rumen Radev´s office presents a strategic vision for the development of energy, which includes the construction of the Belene NPP.
  • May 2023: Acting Energy Minister Rosen Hristov visited the “Belene” site and announced that the plant could be realized in partnership with the French EDF.
  • July 2023: The National Assembly reversed its decision of May 2018 and tasked the government with conducting negotiations with Ukraine for the sale of Belene equipment, which has been already delivered. Millions have been paid for its security and maintenance over the years.