May 20 – Larsen & Toubro and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy have agreed to an initial pact to build nuclear reactors in India.
Larsen is a major Indian engineering and construction company while GE Hitachi is an energy partnership between GE Energy and Hitachi.
The nuclear reactors will be built based on GE Hitachi’s boiling water reactor technology. The reactor equipment and systems to be used for the project will be made in India.
The partnership between Larsen and GE Hitachi has been a result of the end of an embargo on Indian nuclear trade which led to several Indian companies, including Larsen, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. and NTPC to pursue joint ventures with foreign companies.
Last year, India signed a controversial civilian nuclear deal with the United States to increase its power capacity currently unable to meet domestic demand.
The country’s power supply is still largely taken from coal. According to government data, India’s 17 civilian nuclear plants can only generate 4,120 megawatts, or just 2.8 percent of the country’s total generating capacity of 147,965 megawatts.
“The recent agreement between India and U.S. regarding cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear power opened up new opportunities for both countries,” Larsen told The Wall Street Journal. “Both Larsen and GE Hitachi are optimistic about the emerging nuclear renaissance.”
India is looking at increasing its nuclear capacity to 63,000 megawatts by 2032 at a forecasted cost of US$100 billion.
