János Süli: world class NPP units will be constructed in Paks

11/18/19 7:00 AM
The aim of the Paks II. project is to provide electricity via the two new NPP units safely, independent from the weather conditions, at the lowest possible cost until the end of the operation life-time, i.e. for sixty years at the designed performance level, with 92% power utilization at least – reported the minister without portfolio responsible for the Paks II. investment at the hearing before the Parliament’s Economic Committee.

János Süli highlighted: world class units will be built in Paks in international cooperation. They are going to be safely and efficiently operable units, and there is a high chance they will be at the forefront of the world just like the current Paks units – he added.

The minister of the investment summarized the project progress, including the details of licensing and planning, the European Commission review, which resulted in a 22-month deadline modification. He also mentioned some facilities are already being constructed on the construction and erection base, and the Contractor, Rosatom handed over the basic design documentation to Paks II. Ltd., therefore according to plans the implementation license agreement will be submitted the next summer to the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority. The competent authority is going to review the documentation with the help of international professionals. He also underlined: everyone is working to ensure that the license application is well founded.

János Süli informed members of the committee the UN Aarhus Compliance Commission had rejected the complaint of Greenpeace ENERGY and its partners regarding Paks II. The Geneva body has confirmed that Hungary has acted in accordance with the Aarhus Convention during the environmental licensing process and that Hungarian legislation is in compliance with the Convention’s requirements.

The minister also mentioned that the project is based in international cooperation. The I&C tender was successfully completed, with the winner being the Franco-German Framatome-Siemens consortium and the turbines being manufactured by the American-French General Electric-Alstom.

The minister without portfolio said that an amendment to the project's financing agreement could soon be brought before Parliament, meaning that the Hungarian state would not start repaying the EUR 10 bn. loan in 2026, but when the units were put into operation. He added that the amendment would affect the repayment deadline, not the other terms of the finance agreement. Following the session the minister noted the invoices of the works done by the Contractor (HUF 40,324 bn.) have already been paid, and the drawn credit was prepaid by the Hungarian State, Hungary does not have any debt to Russia.