France’s Areva inks contracts with Chinese energy companies

PARIS - Reuters

Energy group Areva has built partnerships with its Chinese counterparts. AFP photo

French energy group Areva has agreed a commercial partnership in renewable energy with China General Nuclear Power (CGN) that will focus on offshore wind power, it said Dec. 9.

The tie-up aims to identify commercial opportunities in offshore wind, biomass, concentrated solar power, and energy storage, Areva said in a statement.

“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,” the statement said.

Areva, in consortium with Siemens, also signed a contract to supply instrumentation and control systems for two 1,000-megawatt pressurized-water reactors in China, for which construction is slated to start in 2014 and 2015.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Areva said it had also signed with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) a letter of intent to consider creating a joint venture to develop a facility making zirconium alloy, which is used in nuclear fuel assembly. Areva is currently building two next-generation nuclear reactors in Taishan in the southern province of Guangdong and is in talks with China to build two other reactors.