AREVA signs a series of agreements with its Chinese partners

During the visit of the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in China, AREVA participated in the celebration of the 30 years of cooperation between France and China in civil nuclear energy. This visit included, notably, a stop by Mr. Ayrault to the construction site for two EPR reactors at Taishan, a symbol of this successful cooperation.

AREVA also signed a series of major agreements with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) for the development of a Franco-Chinese partnership in both civil nuclear and renewable energy.

• AREVA, in consortium with Siemens, also signed a contract to supply instrumentation and control (I&C) systems for reactors Fuqing 5 and 6, two 1,000 MWe pressurized-water reactors. China Nuclear Power Engineering, a subsidiary of CNNC, is scheduled to start construction in 2014 for reactor 5 and the following year for reactor 6.

The future reactors will be equipped with the TELEPERM®XS digital safety I&C system supplied by AREVA.

As a technology that meets the strictest safety standards, TELEPERM®XS is licensed in France, China, Finland, Germany, United States, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia. 80 TELEPERM®XS systems have been supplied or are currently installed in 14 different reactor designs across 16 countries.

This contract demonstrates AREVA’s worldwide leadership in this field. This builds upon previous agreements for the supply of digital I&C systems to other Chinese reactors: Tianwan 1 and 2, Ling Ao 3 and 4 and Quinshan 1, already in operation, as well as Fuqing units 3 and 4 and the Taishan EPR reactors 1 and 2 currently under construction. 

• AREVA and CNNC have signed a letter of intent in front end fuel activities which will study the creation of a joint-venture to develop a facility for the fabrication and the conversion of zirconium alloy in China. Used in nuclear fuel assembly production, these steps are key for the manufacturing of this essential material.

This company could produce up to 600 tons of zirconium alloy annually by 2017, for the Chinese market.

The letter of intent is part of an industrial and technological cooperation which began between the two groups in 2010 with the creation of the CAST joint-venture for the production of Zirconium alloy cladding tubes.

• AREVA and CGN, historic partners in nuclear energy, signed a partnership agreement in the renewable energy sector.

According to the terms of this agreement, AREVA and CGN will identify commercial opportunities in offshore wind, biomass, concentrated solar power, and energy storage. These two companies will focus their cooperation, in priority, in the offshore wind field. AREVA will provide its expertise as an offshore wind turbine manufacturer, and CGN will contribute to future projects as an investor, developer, and operator of wind farms in China and Europe.

As a turnkey renewable technology provider, AREVA has significant experience in the renewables sector having already installed more than 2500 MW in bioenergy projects, 300 MW in concentrated solar power, and is currently installing 600 MW of offshore wind projects.

“These new agreements demonstrate the strength of AREVA’s relations with its historic Chinese partners,” said Luc Oursel, President and CEO of AREVA : “These agreements will support the development of nuclear and renewables energy in China while reinforcing AREVA’s presence on these markets which will create jobs both France and China.”