State-run joint-stock company Energoatom plans to use Ukrainian-produced turbines for the construction of the third and fourth reactors of Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant, according to Volodymyr Bronnikov, the director general of Energoatom's division AtomProjectEngineering.
"Ukrainian-produced turbines will be installed. We’re currently in talks with Turboatom," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
According to Bronnikov, the company has also entered talks with Ukrainian transformer manufacturers.
He said Energoatom would soon start gathering information and accepting bids from potential suppliers of equipment needed for the completion of Khmelnytsky NPP.
Ukraine and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on June 9, 2010 on cooperation in building the third and fourth reactors at Khmelnytsky. Under the agreement, Russia agreed to ensure financing for the construction and startup of reactors in the volumes needed.
Sberbank of Russian notified Energoatom in October 2010 that it was prepared to provide a loan of $1 billion to finance priority construction tasks at the third and fourth reactors. The three-year loan would be guaranteed by the state. In order to qualify for the loan the Ukrainian side would need to provide at least 15% of the financing.
However, Energoatom CEO Yuriy Nedashkovsky in mid-May 2011 said that the Ukrainian side was not satisfied with the conditions offered by Sberbank – namely the high interest rate.
The construction project will cost UAH 33 billion ($4.154 billion), according to the feasibility study prepared by Kyiv-based OJSC Energoproekt R&D and design bureau.
Energoatom is the operator of Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants, which include a total of 15 reactors. Their generating capacity totals 13.8 GW.
