The company’s shareholders, including the energy ministry, approved a credit line of up to $243 million (EUR205 million) to RoPower Nuclear, with $6 million earmarked for immediate pre-engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities, Nuclearelectrica said in a statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The total pre-EPC budget for the project is now estimated at around $600 million.
Under the approved plan, RoPower Nuclear, a project company equally owned by Nuclearelectrica and partner Nova Power & Gas, will initially pay NuScale for just one 77-MW SMR module, out of the six planned for the Doicesti NPP. RoPower will pay for the other five SMRs only after the first reactor will have proven to be fully functional, moving part of the risk on the project to NuScale. Alternatively, RoPower could choose to pay for all six SMRs from the get-go but will be allowed to ask for a refund on the final five SMRs if the first one does not function as intended.
The first SMR module is scheduled to become operational in July 2033, while the entire plant is expected to be completed in December 2034, depending on commercial agreements for the acquisition of the remaining five SMR modules. Nuclearelectrica and NuScale had initially announced that the SMR would be deployed by 2030.
Global financial news platform Investing.com reported on Wednesday that American investment bank TD Cowen downgraded its recommendation on NuScale’s shares, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ‘SMR’ ticker, from ‘Buy’ to ‘Hold’. The downgrade reflects the new conditions that shifted some of the risk on the Romanian SMR project to the US-based company. NuScale’s shares have dropped 56% over the past six months, trading at $16.74 on February 11.
Since the project was first announced in 2021, a range of public and private partners have pledged significant funding and support, including US agencies and international investors.
In October 2024, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank) has approved $99 million in funding for RoPower to help it develop the Doicesti project. The financing is part of a multinational commitment by several public-private partners, announced during the 2023 G7 Leaders Summit in Hiroshima, to provide up to $275 million for the project. During the 2023 G7 Summit, EXIM Bank and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation also presented letters of interest to provide $4 billion for the project.
In July 2024, RoPower signed a contract for the second phase of front-end engineering and design for the SMR with Fluor Corporation, the majority owner of NuScale. In April 2024, the Doicesti site of the SMR plant received a positive assessment from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).