Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US nuclear group Westinghouse for the potential deployment of one or more of its AP1000 reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant in the Vratza region of Bulgaria. This MoU follow a vote of the Bulgarian parliament in January 2023 aimed to accelerate the negotiations with the US government and Westinghouse to accelerate the process of approval and construction of the Kozloduy-7 reactor, and to initiate a licencing and environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure for another reactor (Kozloduy-8).
Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild is a special project company set up by the Bulgarian operator of the existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant, which includes two operational VVER-1 000 reactors (2x930 MW) licenced to operate until 2027 for unit 5 and until 2029 for unit 6. In December 2022, Westinghouse signed a 10-year agreement to supply nuclear fuel to one of the units starting in 2024.
Bulgaria has long been considering developing a 7th reactor worth €4bn at Kozloduy, selecting Westinghouse to develop an AP1000 reactor in 2014 and offering the company the possibility to take a 49% stake in the project. The preliminary shareholder agreement on the project expired in 2015 and the project, which still needs a strategic investor, remained in limbo until January 2021 when the government approved plans to use the Russian equipment provided for the cancelled Belene nuclear power project for the Kozloduy-7 project.
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