Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) announced on Feb. 23 (local time) that it has independently passed the pre-qualification (PQ) process for the new construction of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria and completed the approval of the Bulgarian Parliament.
Hyundai E&C was selected as the preferred bidder for the Kozloduy NPP, a project to build two additional 2,200 MW units at the Kozloduy NPP complex, located approximately 200 kilometers north of the capital city of Sofia. The final contractor selection is expected in April, after negotiations with the owner, Bulgarian Kozloduy NPP-New Builds (KNPP NB), have been finalized.
The Kozloduy NPP, which generates one-third of Bulgaria's electricity, is the country's first nuclear power plant, built in 1969, with units 1 through 4 having been shut down due to aging. Units 5 and 6, which were developed in Russia, are currently in operation, and the new units 7 and 8, which will be AP1000 units, are expected to be operational by 2035.
Hyundai E&C was the only contractor to meet all of the stringent pre-requisites in the tender, which included leading companies such as Bechtel and Fluor, and was the only one to receive congressional approval, once again demonstrating the strength of the global top nuclear contractor.
In fact, Hyundai E&C was awarded the main facility work for the Shinhan Ul Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4, which was reopened last year, continuing the company's overwhelming record of being the main contractor for 24 out of 36 large Korean nuclear power plants at home and abroad, starting with the country's first nuclear power plant, the Kori Unit 1.
"The selection as the preferred bidder for the Kozloduy NPP in Bulgaria will signal the reemergence of the Korean nuclear power industry, which has been somewhat stagnant due to the country's nuclear phase-out policy," said an official from Hyundai E&C. "Especially in the European market, as the positive atmosphere toward nuclear power is spreading from Green Taxonomy to the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) Act, large-scale orders are expected, so we will strive to deliver more orders through various routes, including participation in Team Korea."
Meanwhile, Hyundai E&C is leading the way in strengthening the status of K-NPPs by expanding its global influence over the entire nuclear power lifecycle, including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), nuclear decommissioning, and spent fuel facilities, in addition to large nuclear power plants, by signing an exclusive contract with U.S. nuclear power company Holtec International and becoming the first Korean construction company to begin designing the first SMR unit in the U.S.
