Romania's government said late Tuesday it is increasing its equity stake to 51% from the earlier planned 20% in a joint venture being established with six companies to build two additional reactor units at the country's sole nuclear power plant in Cernavoda.
Romania's state-run nuclear power company Nuclearelectrica will likely partner on the project with Italy's Enel SpA (ENEL.MI), Czech CEZ AS (BAACEZ.PR), Germany's RWE AG (RWE.XE), Spain's Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC), Belgium's Electrabel and the Romanian unit of ArcelorMittal (MT) on the project.
CEZ spokeswoman Eva Novakova Wednesday confirmed the news and said Romania's decision to hold a majority stake will force a new round of negotiations among participating companies as their planned stakes will be diluted.
The Romanians have also increased the total expected investment in the project to EUR4 billion from the earlier forecast EUR2.3 billion.