Areva, EDF extend Polish supplier network
11 September 2013
Areva and EDF have signed cooperation agreements with four Polish companies to bolster their local supply chain in the country. Areva's EPR is one of four reactor designs under consideration for Poland's first nuclear power plant.
The two French companies recently held a third joint supplier day in Poland, which was attended by more than 50 companies specialized in manufacturing, construction and engineering services. Both companies have promised that a "significant part" of the works for a Polish nuclear plant - should they be selected to build it - would be open to Polish suppliers.
During the event, memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed with pump manufacturer Grupa Powen-Wafapomp, construction and power equipment supplier Elektrobudowa, cable producer Telefonika Kable, and boiler manufacturer Rafako.
Areva's chief commercial executive officer Tarik Choho said that the latest supplier day and the signing of the MoUs "will help to strengthen the supply chain implemented by Areva and EDF, and will enable us to make the best possible offer for the construction and operation of nuclear reactors in Poland." He noted that some 25 Polish companies are already involved in the company's EPR construction site at Olkiluoto 3 in Finland. This, Choho said, "demonstrates first-hand their capabilities to become a significant part of the future reactor project work in Poland."
EDF nuclear engineering division director Dominique Lagarde added, "The signing of these four new MoUs strengthens the link between EDF and the hundreds of Polish suppliers that EDF Polska already works with for its power generation plants."
Areva has already established several cooperation agreements with Polish companies and leading universities, including with Polimeks-Mostostal, a construction-engineering company, and with the prestigious Polytechnic University of Warsaw (Politechnika Warszawska). Areva and EDF have also signed a tripartite MoU with Polish energy engineering company Energoprojekt.
Poland plans to have a nuclear power plant in operation by 2025, and utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) has approved the construction of two nuclear power plants. No vendor has yet been selected, although non-exclusive agreements on the investigation of French EPR technology, GE-Hitachi's ABWR and ESBWR, and Westinghouse's AP1000 have been signed in recent years.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News