UPDATE: GDF Suez, Partners Exit Romania Nuclear Power Project
January 20 2011 - 9:40AM
Dow Jones News
German utility RWE AG (RWE.XE), GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) of France
and Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) of Spain decided to exit a project for
two new blocks of a nuclear power plant in Cernavoda in the
south-east of Romania, citing the lack of a clear regulatory
framework and uncertainty about the electricity demand growth in
the future, RWE said Thursday.
"Economic and market uncertainties for the project, that are
mostly related to the effects of the financial crisis, have put the
necessary investment into question," RWE said in an emailed
statement. "RWE, GDF Suez and Iberdrola have therefore decided to
pull out of the Cernavoda project," it added.
The decision to pull also comes as the Romanian state-controlled
Nuclearelectrica said it would cut its planned stake to about 20%
from the original 51%, a source from GDF Suez added.
Czech Republic's Cez AS (BAACEZ), which was also part of the
consortium, had already said last week it was withdrawing.
Italy's Enel SpA (ENEL.MI) and European steel giant
ArcelorMittal (MT) haven't withdrawn, but it makes little sense for
them to stay in the project alone, the GDF source said.
It is the second time in less than two years RWE has pulled out
of a nuclear power plant project in eastern Europe. In 2009, the
company pulled out of a similar project in Bulgaria citing
financing problems that its local partner, Bulgaria's state-owned
National Electricity Co., or NEK, had encountered.
RWE said, however, that it remains interested in participating
in the construction of new nuclear reactors in markets outside its
home market Germany.
RWE is Europe's largest emitter of carbon dioxide and has said
it considers nuclear energy part of its strategy to improve its
carbon footprint.
The company is also pursuing new-build nuclear projects in the
U.K. in a joint venture with German peer E.ON AG (EOAN.XE).
-By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1740;
inti.landauro@dowjones.com
(Jan Hromadko contributed to this article.)