President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday participated in an event where US Exim Bank handed two letters of intent regarding the provision of loans for units 3 and 4 of Romania’s Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant that took place in on the sidelines of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, according to Agerpres.

The two letters of intent mention a first loan of approximately USD 50 million for preliminary works on units 3 and 4, and a subsequent loan of USD 3 billion for the actual construction of the units.

„We need energy security, but energy security is only possible through energy availability and we, in Romania, have an ambition that is important to Romanians, to the business community and the region because it is a new approach that will make sure that we have enough energy and proves that we are energy independent and will show how to achieve the green transition because innovation and nuclear energy will make it possible to replace fossil fuels,” said Iohannis.

The United States special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry was also present at the ceremony and said that we cannot achieve net zero emissions before 2050 without nuclear energy being part of the energy mix.

He added that the Romanian project will double the energy production capacity at Cernavoda while helping reduce emissions.

The documents were handed over by President and Chair of the Board of Directors US Exim Bank Reta Jo Lewis to the Romanian Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu.

„This is a big step in terms of Romania’s energy independence, and I am sure that the new steps we will take together will boost the speed and we will complete our nuclear programmes. We are committed to carry through with our reactor programme,” said Popescu.

Agerpres