Bulgaria - World Nuclear Outlook Report
Projection of future nuclear capacity in Bulgaria in 2050
|
60-year operation (MWe) |
80-year operation (MWe) |
Under construction (MWe) |
Planned (MWe) |
Proposed (MWe) |
Potential (MWe) |
Government target (MWe) |
Total for 2050 (MWe) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1040 |
2080 |
0 |
2500 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4580 |
Bulgaria has two VVER-1000 reactors currently in operation, Kozloduy 5&6, with a combined net capacity of 2006 MWe. Together, the two units generate around one-third of Bulgaria’s electricity.
Since the 1980s additional units have been under consideration, at Kozloduy and at Belene. In January 2023, the then energy minister set out an energy strategy which includes plans for two new reactors at Kozloduy and two at Belene.47
In April 2024 the recently-appointed energy minister under a caretaker administration stated that construction of two new units at Kozloduy was among the key priorities in the work of the government, stating that "It is of strategic importance both for Bulgaria's and the region's energy security and for achieving the decarbonization goals".48 Plans for construction at Belene were cancelled.
Long-term operation
The two VVER-1000 units at Kozloduy began operating in 1987 and 1991. A programme of work was carried out between 2014 and 2019 to allow for 60 years of operation, and to uprate both reactors to 104% of their original capacity, through installation of new stators and upgrades to the turbine generators. This should see operation continue to 2047 and 2051 respectively. The operating licences have initially been extended by ten years, to 2027 and 2029.
New capacity
Large-scale reactors
Discussions with various parties have been ongoing regarding the construction of new units at Kozloduy since the early 2010s49, with Westinghouse, GE and Russian VVER-1000 units under consideration.
In 2021 the Bulgarian government approved plans for a new unit at Kozloduy, and in 2023 the Bulgarian National Assembly voted in favour of asking ministers to negotiate with the US government for a new AP1000 unit as Kozloduy 7, and to initiate a licensing and environmental impact assessment for a further unit. The government set a target date of 2033 for completion of unit 7, with unit 8 to follow two-to-three years later.
In February 2024 the Bulgarian parliament gave the go-ahead for talks to take place with Hyundai E&C, as the sole shortlisted constructor for engineering, construction, delivery and commissioning of the new units at Kozloduy, and in March 2024 the Bulgarian parliament ratified an agreement with the USA on coordination regarding construction of Westinghouse AP1000s as Kozloduy 7&8. In July 2025 Bulgaria's Ministry of Energy and the USA's Citi agreed a partnership to secure funding for the construction of the two AP1000 units.50
Small-scale reactors
In November 2021 Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) signed a memorandum of understanding with US engineering firm Fluor to look at the possibility of replacing coal-fired plants with NuScale small nuclear reactors (SMRs).
Another memorandum of understanding was signed in February 2021 between NuScale and the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The two sides said they would work on numerous studies on building SMRs within the existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant.51,52
More recently, a separate grant agreement was signed by the US Trade and Development Agency with state-owned Bulgaria Energy Holding (BEH) for a detailed technical analysis of US-sourced small modular reactor (SMR) design options to support Bulgaria's planned deployment of one or more SMR nuclear plants.53
In February 2024 Bulgaria and France signed a declaration of intent on analysing potential projects to build large reactors and SMR technologies in Bulgaria.54
