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Report: Westinghouse in talks to bid for Saudi nuclear reactors

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Report: Westinghouse in talks to bid for Saudi nuclear reactors

Seeking an avenue for survival in the global nuclear industry, embattled supplier Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC is in talks with other U.S. companies to form a consortium to bid in Saudi Arabia's nuclear power construction program, the company confirmed Nov. 21. The reactor manufacturing unit of Toshiba Corp., which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, is discussing a bid with Chicago-headquartered utility Exelon Corp. and Bechtel Corp., industry sources told Reuters.

"Westinghouse is pleased that Saudi Arabia has decided to pursue nuclear energy," the company said in a statement provided by a media spokesperson. "We are fully participating in their request for information and are pleased to provide the AP1000 plant, the industry's most advanced technology."

Faced with persistent low prices for oil and gas, Saudi Arabian officials are determined to diversify the kingdom's energy mix and expand its economy beyond fossil fuels. The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy has set a target of 132 GW of zero-carbon power generation by 2032, a total that would include up to 17.6 GW of nuclear capacity, or about the equivalent of 17 reactors. Earlier this month Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia sent a request for information to international suppliers to build at least two nuclear power plants. Responses are due at the end of 2017, according to industry sources.

The Middle East is considered a lucrative market for nuclear power suppliers as Saudi Arabia joins the United Arab Emirates in planning major nuclear plant construction. Among the likely rivals in the competition to build reactors in Saudi Arabia are major suppliers from Russia, South Korea and France.

The desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also becoming an important market for solar power. Abu Dhabi solar supplier Masdar is partnering with Electricité de France SA to build the 300-MW Sakaka PV project, according to reports. The price of solar power from the project would be roughly 1.79 cents/kWh, among the lowest in the world. The giant Japanese investment fund SoftBank Group Corp., meanwhile, plans to invest up to $25 billion in technology and energy projects in Saudi Arabia in the coming years, according to Bloomberg News, including as much as $10 billion in Saudi Arabia's state-controlled Saudi Electricity Co., to help fuel the utility's effort to diversify into solar power.

The move into nuclear power also comes at a time of political turmoil in the kingdom, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attempts to consolidate his power and crack down on alleged corruption among members of the royal family.

A successful bid in Saudi Arabia would be a much-needed win for beleaguered Westinghouse, which has seen its long-awaited AP1000 reactor, once considered a leading model in a new generation of advanced reactors, abandoned at the now-canceled V.C. Summer plant in South Carolina. Plans to build Westinghouse reactors in Britain and India also have been scrapped.

Toshiba, which itself is struggling to avoid collapse as a result of the Westinghouse bankruptcy, said Nov. 19 that it intends to sell Westinghouse if it can find a buyer.