Day: January 10, 2023

NuScale Power, LLC (NuScale) and Romania’s RoPower Nuclear S.A. (RoPower), owned in equal shares by S.N. Nuclearelectrica S.A. and Nova Power and Gas S.A., announced today that a contract for Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) work was signed between parties on December 28, 2022, marking a significant step toward the deployment of a NuScale VOYGR™ small modular reactor (SMR) power plant in Romania.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230104005198/en/

Phase 1 of the FEED work awarded to NuScale will define the major site and specific inputs for a VOYGR-6 SMR power plant to be deployed at the Doicesti Power Station site in Romania. The eight-month project includes the issuance of subcontracts to perform the environmental impact assessment and subsurface geotechnical investigation, the evaluation of site and site-specific requirements for NuScale’s standard plant design, and the development of a project-specific cost estimate.

First touted by President Biden as part of his Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment in June 2022, the commencement of this work is a landmark advancement between NuScale and Nuclearelectrica aimed at deploying the first SMRs in Europe to help meet regional energy security and decarbonization goals.

“NuScale’s commencement of Phase 1 Front-End Engineering and Design work in partnership with Nuclearelectrica/RoPower keeps Romania on the path toward becoming the first country in Europe to benefit from safe, reliable and carbon-free small modular reactor technology,” said John Hopkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of NuScale. “We’re excited to enter into this next phase of our partnership with Nuclearelectrica and RoPower as our focus turns to the practical next steps toward the deployment of a NuScale VOYGR-6 SMR power plant in Romania.”

”We are proud to advance our partnership with NuScale and start the in-depth analysis and project planning on Doicesti site,” said Cosmin Ghita, CEO of Nuclearelectrica. “The signing of the contract for FEED work follows nearly four years of collaboration, research, and studies to ensure we select the safest and most performing technology, as well as the appropriate site. It also demonstrates the partners share the same values and commitment to build a greener and more sustainable future for the next generations.”

Commencement of this Phase 1 work follows the June signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between NuScale and Nuclearelectrica to begin conducting engineering studies, technical reviews, and licensing and permitting activities for the project.

About NuScale Power

NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) is poised to meet the diverse energy needs of customers across the world. It has developed small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, commercial-scale hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. The groundbreaking NuScale Power Module™ (NPM), a small, safe pressurized water reactor, can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe) and can be scaled to meet customer needs. NuScale’s 12-module VOYGR™-12 power plant is capable of generating 924 MWe, and NuScale also offers four-module VOYGR-4 (308 MWe) and six-module VOYGR-6 (462 MWe) power plants, as well as other configurations based on customer needs.

Founded in 2007, NuScale is headquartered in Portland, Ore., and has offices in Corvallis, Ore.; Rockville, Md.; Richland, Wash.; and London, UK. To learn more, visit NuScale Power’s website or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About Nuclearelectrica

Nuclearelectrica is Romania’s nuclear energy producer. The company owns Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant which operates the two CANDU nuclear units, each with an installed capacity of 700 MW, which are two of the most performant units in the world and Pitesti Fuel Manufacturing Plant which manufactures the fuel bundles, the company aiming at achieving integrated fuel cycle. To support Romania’s energy security and decarbonation goal, Nuclearelectrica’s civil nuclear development plan which includes refurbishment of Unit 1, developing two more CANDU units and deploying the first SMR in Europe.

Nuclearelectrica has a major role at national level, contributing over 18% of nuclear energy in total energy production and 33% in total CO2-free energy production in Romania. The development of these strategic projects will double Nuclearelectrica’s contribution to 66% clean energy production in Romania.

www.nuclearelectrica.ro

Forward Looking Statements

This release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical facts. These forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results may differ materially as a result of a number of factors. Caution must be exercised in relying on these and other forward-looking statements. Due to known and unknown risks, NuScale’s results may differ materially from its expectations and projections. NuScale specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing NuScale’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Riyadh: Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, will host tomorrow the 2023 Spanish Super Cup for the third time. The four teams (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Real Betis) will take part in the tournament, set to run from January 11 to 15, 2023 at Riyadh’s King Fahd Stadium, brought by Ministry of Sport as part of the sporting events in 2nd Diriyah Season.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005862/en/

Spanish Super Cup to kick-off tomorrow in Riyadh (Photo: AETOSWire)

Spanish league champions Real Madrid will play Valencia tomorrow, January 11th, while Spanish Cup champions Real Betis will take on rivals Barcelona on Thursday, January 12th, with the winners of each game competing for the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday, January 15th. While all the three matches will be played at 10:00pm Riyadh time.

The three teams; Real Madrid, Valencia and Real Betis arrived yesterday at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, while the fourth team Barcelona is scheduled to arrive today evening.

The Spanish Super Cup tournament was first hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2020 in Jeddah, where Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid in the final. The second tournament was staged in Riyadh at the beginning of 2022, and saw Real Madrid again lift the trophy after defeating Athletic Bilbao.

The Kingdom’s hosting of this major event comes as part of international sporting tournaments and events taking place in the 2022 Diriyah Season which are brought by Ministry of Sport, with aim to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and as one of the “Quality of Life” Program’s initiatives, by hosting the most spectacular and largest international sporting events, to ensure a great experience for the visitors of Diriyah Season through amazing activities.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

House Price Index (HPI) recorded an increase of 5.3% the third quarter of 2022, compared to the same quarter of 2021, according to preliminary estimate published by the Statistical Service on Tuesday. HPI for the thrird quarter of 2022 amounts to 112.51 units.

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, the HPI increased by 5.8%.

House Price Index is a quarterly index which measures the change in the average prices of residential dwellings. It captures all types of residential properties, both new and existing. The land component of the residential property is included.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus expresses its full support to Brazil and its President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in a message posted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter following Sunday’s attack on government buildings by supporters loyal to former President, Jair Bolsonaro.

Thousands of people ransacked Brazil’s Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, causing damages. Brazilian authorities arrested many protesters while several countries around the world already condemned the attack.

“Cyprus expresses its full support to President Lula, his government and the democratic will of the people of Brazil”, reads the message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Violence and extremism have not and will not prevail”, it adds, saying that “democracies around the world stand with Brazil and its people.”

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The total registrations of motor vehicles decreased by 2.7% to 33,795 in January-December 2022, from 34,716 in January-December 2021, according to data published by the Statistical Service on Tuesday.

Passenger saloon cars decreased to 26,598 from 26,634 in January-December 2021, recording a fall of 0.1%. Of the total passenger saloon cars, 11,577 or 43.5% were new and 15,021 or 56.5% were used. Rental cars in particular recorded a rise of 72.1% to 4,102.

Furthermore, motor coaches and buses registered in 2022 increased to 85, from 51 in 2021. Goods conveyance vehicles decreased by 3.5% to 3,895 in January-December 2022, compared to 4,035 in January-December 2021. In particular, light goods vehicles increased by 2.6% to 3,151, while decreases were recorded in heavy goods vehicles by 17.8% to 379, in road tractors (units of trailers) by 48.1% to 94 and in rental vehicles by 16.1% to 271.

Mopeds under 50cc in 2022 decreased to 244 compared to 246 in 2021. Motorcycles over 50cc decreased by 21.8% to 2,598 in January-December 2022, compared to 3,324 in January-December 2021.

The main suppliers of motor vehicles in Cyprus during 2022 were Japan, with a share market of 38.6%, Germany with 13.3%, France with 9.2%, the United Kingdom with 5.4% and South Korea with 4.9%.

In December 2022, the total registrations of motor vehicles numbered 2,211, recording an increase of 9.6% compared to 2,018 in December 2021. Passenger saloon cars registered a rise of 8.2% to 1,696, from 1,567 in December 2021.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Yiannis Karousos had the opportunity on Tuesday to inspect the works that have either been completed or are underway and aim to highlight the cultural value of the ecclesiastical monuments of Agioi Iliofotoi, Agioi Barnabas and Hilarion and Agios Kassianos, accompanied by Dr. Marina Solomidou – Ieronymidou and officials of the Department of Antiquities.

In his statements during the visit, Karousos stressed that “we must protect and highlight our ecclesiastical monuments as an integral part of our culture and history.”

“The protection and preservation of our cultural heritage is a debt to future generations and the preservation of religiousness as a characteristic of Hellenism,” he stressed.

According to an official statement, the church of Agioi Iliofotoi, which dates back to the 18th century and had a total works cost of €33,022.91, is located in the abandoned Turkish Cypriot village of Agioi Iliofotoi in the Nicosia district and was erected in front of a tomb, which today forms part of its western part and is believed to belong to the Alaman monks who lived in the area in the 7th century and were known as Agioi Iliofotoi.

At this stage, according to the statement, the Department of Antiquities is carrying out work at the monument to remove and restore the buttress on the north side of the church, remove and install a new pebbled floor around the perimeter of the church, work on upward moisture management and rainwater drainage, and minor work on the floor of the sanctuary.

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works approved to the Church Committee a sum of €65,000 for costs.

In addition, it is said that in the period 2021-2022, the Department of Antiquities completed the maintenance and restoration work on the small one-room chapel of Agios Antonios, also located in the community of Peristerona.

Comprehensive conservation/restoration works have been carried out on the monument, internally, externally, as well as landscaping of the courtyard area. Due to serious structural problems that the monument was facing, the Department of Antiquities proceeded to dismantle and fully restore the roof. The total cost for the completion of the project amounted to €112,290 and was fully subsidized by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works.

In the summer of 2022, the Department of Antiquities carried out work to upgrade the electrical installation of the temple, install air conditioning and landscaping and lighting of the courtyard.

The total cost for the works, amounting to €30,062, was approved by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and was covered by the Department of Antiquities’ budget.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela and members of the scientific committee will review the pandemic situation in Cyprus following the new outbreak in China and will decide if any measures will be taken.

The meeting is set to take place at 3 pm and statements to the press will follow, according to an announcement by the Ministry.

Following the previous meeting held January 2nd the Minister said that it was decided to study the data after two meetings at European Commission level, where more data were to be given to the officials of the Ministry and during the new meeting, they will further study these data, and, assess “if we need to take any action’’.

Hadjipantela, said that there was “no need for panic” for now and added that at this particular moment, the COVID mutation variant that emerged in China, has been present in Cyprus since August 2022.

Sources say that if Cyprus is to finally take measures these will be in line with what the rest of the EU decided and include testing for passengers from China and use of mask for all passengers arriving on the island.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Deputy Minister for Shipping Vassilis Demetriades departs for Athens to attend the 15h Maritime Conference to be held tomorrow, where he will outline Cyprus’ initiatives which would enable shipping to navigate through the current challenges.

According to a press release issued by the Deputy Ministry, Demetriades will attend the conference organised by the Maritime and Economic Strategy Institute and Maritime Economies, titled «2023, Sailing in a new Geo – economics: The effect of the World Energy Crisis in Seaborne Trade and the role of Geopolitics on the Future of the Shipping Industry. » The Conference will discuss issues such as the challenges facing the maritime sector in combination with the global energy crisis and the wider geopolitical developments.

During the conference, the Cypriot official will attend a round table discussion with the Greek Minister for Shipping.

“Demetriades is expected to outline the positions and initiatives deployed by Cyprus both on a national, EU and international levels so that shipping could face the challenges effectively,” the press release added.

On the conference’s sidelines, Demetriades will hold meetings with shipping stakeholders and representatives of shipping companies entrusting the Cypriot shipping and he will outline actions and initiatives stemming from Cyprus’ National Shipping Strategy titled “Sea Change 2030.”

Demetriades returns to Cyprus on Thursday, January 12.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The European Commission today launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on its draft proposal for Guidelines on how to design sustainability agreements in the field of agriculture (‘Guidelines’) using the novel exclusion from EU competition rules introduced during the recent reform of the common agricultural policy (‘CAP’).

Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) generally prohibits agreements between companies that restrict competition, such as those between competitors that lead to higher prices or lower quantities. However, Article 210a of Regulation 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (‘CMO Regulation’) excludes certain restrictive agreements in the agricultural sector from that prohibition, when those agreements are indispensable to achieve sustainability standards.

The draft Guidelines aim at clarifying how operators active in the agri-food sector can design joint sustainability initiatives in line with Article 210a.

In particular, the draft Guidelines:

Define the scope of the exclusion. The exclusion only concerns agreements concluded by agricultural producers, either between themselves or with other actors active along the agri-food chain, such as companies supplying inputs for production, distribution, transport or packaging of the product. Agreements concluded only between operators in the agri-food supply chain without including agricultural producers cannot benefit from the exclusion, even when the agreement concerns an agricultural product.

Define the eligible sustainability objectives. The Guidelines clarify the scope of the sustainability objectives that can be pursued with the agreements. These objectives are laid down in Article 210a of the CMO Regulation and can be divided in three categories: (i) environmental protection; (ii) reduction of pesticide use and antimicrobial resistance; and (iii) animal health and welfare. For example, the Guidelines clarify that the environmental protection objective includes agreements to protect soil and to improve soil resistance to erosion, in order to increase its biodiversity or to improve its composition.

Set requirements for sustainability standards. In order to benefit from the exclusion, parties need to agree on the adoption of a sustainability standard that is higher than what is mandatory under EU or national law. While the Guidelines do not set a minimum level of improvement that the parties need to achieve compared to mandatory standards, they do clarify that the assessment of the indispensability of this improvement will need to take into account the level of the restrictions. They also clarify that if there is no existing mandatory standard, a sustainability agreement that adopts one may still fall under the exclusion, provided that the agreement pursues one of the sustainability objectives laid down in Article 210a.

Set the test to identify indispensable restrictions to competition. Parties to a sustainability agreement need to assess whether any restrictions to competition stemming from their agreement is indispensable to achieving the sustainability standard. This assessment includes four elements : (i) identifying the obstacles that would prevent the parties from attaining the sustainability standard on their own and explaining why collaboration is necessary ; (ii) determining the appropriate type of agreement (e.g. an agreement on price or quantity) ; (iii) identifying indispensable restriction(s) to competition (e.g. an agreement on price can either fix the whole price, establish a minimum price or establish a price premium) ; and (iv) determining the appropriate level (e.g. the amount of the price) and duration of the restriction(s). When conducting this test, the parties shall choose the option that is the least restrictive to competition.

Define the scope for ex-post intervention. The Guidelines clarify that the Commission and the national competition authorities have the right to stop or require amendments of the sustainability agreements if this is necessary in order to prevent competition from being excluded or if it is considered that the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy set out in Article 39 TFEU are jeopardised.

Next steps

Following the comments by the interested parties on the draft Guidelines, the Commission will carefully analyse those and implement any necessary changes with a view of having the Guidelines in place by 8 December 2023.

In addition, the Commission plans to hold a workshop with participants to this public consultation in June 2023 to further discuss the draft text and address any pending issues.

Background

In the context of the common agricultural policy reform for 2023-2027, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted in 2021 a new exclusion from competition rules for agricultural products.

The new exclusion is contained in Regulation 2021/2117, which amended Article 210a of the CMO Regulation. This provision states that agreements aimed at achieving a set of sustainability objectives by applying standards higher than what is mandatory under EU and/or national laws are allowed, provided that any restrictions of competition that result from such agreements are indispensable for the achievement of those objectives.

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union asked the European Commission to issue guidelines on the application of this exclusion.

On 28 February 2022, the Commission launched a call for evidence and a public consultation inviting stakeholders to share their experience with agreements aimed at achieving sustainability objectives in the agri-food supply chains. The Commission published the replies to this consultation in May 2022.

Quote(s)

“Agricultural production is currently facing significant sustainability challenges ranging from animal welfare and biodiversity to natural resources, health and climate change. We want to make sure that operators in the agri-food sector can design joint sustainability initiatives to tackle these challenges while respecting our competition rules. We now invite all interested parties to share their views on our proposal.”

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy – 10/01/2023

“The transition to more resilient and sustainable agricultural production requires reinforced co-operation within the actors of the whole supply chain, ensuring that farmers get a fair economic returns for their efforts to enhance sustainability of their production beyond what is currently mandatory. We hope that the farmers together with other actors of the supply chain will make use of this exclusion when designing their sustainability agreements.”

Source: Cyprus News Agency