Nuclearelectrica lands €800M EIB loan, among Romania's biggest debt deals
Romania's Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica has secured an €800 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to extend the operational life of Unit 1 at the Cernavodă nuclear plant. The loan will fund the replacement of vital equipment and system modernisation.
The financing ranks among the largest debt deals ever recorded in Romania, sitting in the 97th percentile of 82 such rounds tracked all-time.
The loan is part of a broader €17.4 billion financing package approved by the EIB Group, of which €3.7 billion is earmarked for energy projects. The boards of the EIB and the European Investment Fund cleared the transactions at meetings in Luxembourg.
Cernavodă supplies roughly 20% of Romania's electricity, making Unit 1 central to the country's energy planning. Nuclearelectrica, the plant's operator, views the refurbishment as essential to keep its existing reactor fleet generating power.
Energy remains the biggest sector in the EIB Group's portfolio. The package also backs electricity infrastructure in Belgium and Spain, wind farms in Germany, and solar projects in France.
"European security and self-sufficiency" while keeping energy affordable for households and businesses is the goal, said Nadia Calviño, the group's president. She said the bank expects another strong year, citing record investment in grids and interconnectors.
As the EU pushes for energy independence and competitiveness, nuclear is reclaiming a role in that strategy. The Cernavodă loan shows public lenders willing to write large cheques to keep ageing reactors running rather than retiring them.
Read more: sudandailynews.com
Image credit: FirstEnergy Corp.
