A Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)-led consortium has beaten off stiff competition from GE/Hitachi and Areva to win a USD20 billion contract to build four 1400 MW civil nuclear power reactors in the United Arab Emirates.The deal is for four Generation 3 APR1400 reactors. The APR1400 is similar to the Combustion Engineering System 80+ design built at Palo Verde in the USA. The first of the four units is scheduled to begin providing electricity to the grid in 2017, with the three later units being completed by 2020. No sites have yet been named for the reactors.
According to the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), a 'high percentage' of the contract will be fixed price. The UK's Financial Times quoted unnamed analysts who said that the Korean consortium's [markedly lower] price played an important role in winning the contract. ENEC also said that it and the Korean consortium have agreed terms under which Korean investors would take an undisclosed amount of equity investment in the project. The consortium could earn $20 billion running the plants over their projected lifespan of 60 years.
KEPCO's scope of supply includes engineering, procurement, construction, nuclear fuel and operations and maintenance support with the assistance of other Korean members of the KEPCO team, including Samsung, Hyundai, Doosan Heavy Industries and KEPCO subsidiaries. Its subsidiary Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) will play a key role as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor. Other subsidiaries involved include operator Korea Power Engineering Co Inc. (KOPEC) for nuclear power plant design and engineering services, Korea Nuclear Fuel Co Ltd (KNF) for nuclear fuel, and Korea Plant Service and Engineering Co Ltd. (KPS) for plant maintenance. Non-Korean companies involved in the KEPCO team include Westinghouse of the US, and Toshiba of Japan.
KEPCO, a government owned-utility, is the world's third largest nuclear energy business with an installed nuclear generation capacity of 17716 MW as of the end of 2008. KEPCO operates 20 commercial nuclear power units as of 2009, with eight more units currently under construction and an additional 10 units planned to be built by 2030. The contract marks the first time the Korean reactors have been exported.
The first two APR1400 based nuclear plants, Shin-Kori units 3&4, are now under construction, having obtained a construction permit from the Korean regulatory authority. Shin-Kori unit 3 will be connected to Korea's grid by 2013. Two further APR1400s are being built at Shin-Ulchin 1 and 2. The first UAE nuclear power plant will therefore be the fifth unit of the APR1400 type, and Shin-Kori plants will serve as the reference plants for the UAE programme. KEPCO will therefore construct plants that are essentially the same as the reference plants but supplemented with changes required to adapt to UAE climactic conditions and any specific requirements of the UAE nuclear safety regulator, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).
The APR1400 safety system is designed to prevent or mitigate severe accidents by ensuring reactor shutdown, removing decay heat, maintaining the integrity of the containment facility, and preventing radioactive releases. It is designed to meet the procedural requirements and criteria of the US NRC regulations, including the post -Three Mile Island (TMI) accident requirements for new plants. In addition, the building and structures in the UAE plants will be designed to fulfil the latest requirements for earthquake safety and aircraft impact resistance.
ENEC's year-long prime contractor selection process was designed to identify the best long-term partner for the UAE. ENEC focused on five core criteria in reaching its final decision: safety, deliverability (start-up by 2017), compliance with a prime contractor structure, human resource development in the UAE and commercial competitiveness.
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