NEW DELHI: French state-run power utility firm Électricité de France S.A.(EDF) has submitted binding techno-commercial offer to state-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd (NPCIL) for construction of six EPR reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.
The Jaitapur plant will have an installed capacity of 9.6 GWe. The new capacity will help boost India’s ambitious nuclear power plans that include constructing a dozen new nuclear power reactors totaling 9,000 MW.
According to an EDF statement, the offer includes “the detailed technical configuration of the reactors, taking into account the information provided by NPCIL on the Jaitapur site conditions and the joint comprehensive work performed by EDF and NPCIL," and “the associated comprehensive commercial terms and conditions for the supply of engineering studies and equipment for six (6) EPR reactors."
This comes in the backdrop of the French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian recent visit to India. The ties between India and France are growing including acquisition of 36 Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. The bilateral trade between India and France accounted for $10.75 billion in 2020.
“On 22 April 2021, EDF submitted to NPCIL the French binding techno-commercial offer to supply engineering studies and equipment for the construction of six (6) EPR reactors at the Jaitapur site, Maharashtra, India. This major milestone for EDF, its partners and the French nuclear industry will enable discussions aimed at converging towards a binding framework agreement in the coming months," the EDF statement added.
While nine reactors totaling 6,700 MW are under construction, the Indian government has also given ain-principal approval for setting up nuclear power capacities totaling 25,248 MW across Jaitapur, Kowada (Andhra Pradesh), Chhaya Mithi Virdi (Gujarat), Haripur (West Bengal) and Bhimpur (Madhya Pradesh).
“NPCIL is responsible for the construction and the commissioning of each of the six (6) units of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant, as well as for obtaining all necessary permits and consents in India, including the certification of the EPR technology by the Indian safety regulator," the statement added.
India has 22 commercial nuclear power reactors with an installed capacity of 6,780MW, which are run by NPCIL. The US was instrumental in getting India out of its nuclear isolation with the 2008 civil nuclear deal.
“The offer is the culmination of the work carried out jointly with NPCIL further to the signature of the Industrial Way Forward Agreement on 10 March 2018 in Delhi in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Republic of India and of the President of the French Republic, and to the submission of EDF's non-binding proposal at the end of 2018," the statement said.
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