BEIJING — China National Nuclear Corp, which is owned by the state, will finance and build two nuclear power plants in Argentina in a deal estimated to be valued at nearly $15 billion.
The company will work with Argentina's state-owned company Nucleoelectrica to build the South American nation's fourth and fifth reactors, CNNC said Monday in a statement posted on its website. The agreement was reached over the weekend at the G20 summit in Turkey.
The Argentine government estimates the project will require $15 billion in financing, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said in a statement issued by the country's Ministry of Planning, which announced the deal.
China will provide a portion of the financing for the projects through investment and bank loans at preferential rates, according to the official statement.
One reactor will use Canadian heavy-water technology, while the other will feature China's locally developed Hualong One reactor, CNNC said.
Chinese state-owned energy companies have been attempting to promote the country’s homegrown nuclear technology and strike energy deals worldwide. Last month, China vowed to take a one-third stake in Britain's first nuclear power plant in decades, and will provide $9.1 billion in financing for the project hailed by Prime Minister David Cameron as a "historic deal.”
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2015
