The electricity that NPP Belene will generate when finished will cost at least 4.5 euro-cents per kilowatt-hour, which is by one euro-cent more than the price initially announced by Atomstroyexport. The consumers' price of the electricity from NPP Belene is still uncalculated
The Russian builders of Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) will demand higher prices of the electricity the future nuke is to generate. The power produced by Bulgaria's second NPP will cost more than the announced a year before, The Standart learned.
"The price for a kWph will be at least 4.5 eurocents," Bulgaria's Minister of Economy and Energy Petar Dimitrov announced.
Thus, the prime cost of the power the future nuclear reactors will produce has gone 1 eurocent up even before the nuke's construction has actually begun. It was last year that Atomexportstroy, the Russian contractor which is to build up the power plant, won the tender for the construction of the two nuclear reactors, having offered a bid of nearly 4 billion euros and an electricity prime cost of 3.5 - 3.7 eurocents per kWph.
"We chose Atomexportstroy because the reactor efficiency they offered was 25-27 percent higher than NPP Kozloduy's," minister Dimitrov explained.
Strangely enough, however, the prime cost of 1kWph generated at Kozloduy NPP is nearly by half-lower.
"How much the final consumer will pay is another question. The final price will entirely depend on the demand and supply at the international markets," minister Dimitrov added.
What is the reason for the increase of the price of power at Belene NPP remains a complete mystery. According to well-informed sources, one off them is the growing prices of uranium. For now Atomexportstroy refuse to explain why they are raising the initially announced prime costs. They only said that they had three options for Belene NPP's prices, but could not say for certain which one The Standart had been provided with. Nevertheless, the Russian company reassured they would do their best to stick to the initially announced power costs.
http://www.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2007-12-28&article=10984