Nuclearelectrica sells 2027 power to ENGIE for RON 295.7m — NRG-IA

Nuclearelectrica has concluded a bilateral transaction with ENGIE Romania worth RON 295,724,240 for electricity to be delivered throughout the entire year of 2027. The transaction, reported to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, comes at a highly unusual moment: at Cernavodă, both nuclear units are offline after the extremely low level of the Danube affected the water supply required to run the plant. The contrast is stark. In 2026, Romanian nuclear generation is undergoing a hydrological shock that has temporarily knocked both reactors offline. At the same time, Nuclearelectrica is already locking in a portion of its sales for the following year, when the company will enter another critical phase: preparing for the shutdown of Unit 1 for refurbishment. The transaction does not set a date for the current restart of the reactors, nor does it offer a technical forecast for 2027 production. However, it shows that, from a commercial standpoint, the company continues to contract future energy despite a period in which its production profile will undergo major changes. RON 295.7 million for deliveries throughout 2027 The transaction with ENGIE was concluded on September 2 and covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2027 . Nuclearelectrica's report to the BVB describes it as a bilateral transaction executed under the existing contract no. 1236 of December 8, 2017, between the two companies. Therefore, this is not a new framework agreement worth nearly RON 300 million, but rather a new commercial operation carried out under the existing contractual relationship. Following this transaction, the cumulative reported value of operations between Nuclearelectrica and ENGIE Romania reaches approximately RON 857.7 million . However, this figure includes transactions with different delivery periods and does not exclusively represent energy for 2027. The public report does not specify the volume of energy in MWh, nor the contract price in RON/MWh. For this reason, the sum of RON 295.7 million does not allow for a rigorous calculation of the contracted energy volume or the unit price. What can be established unequivocally is the financial scale and the timeline: ENGIE is purchasing power from Nuclearelectrica for delivery throughout 2027 in a transaction worth nearly RON 300 million. Cernavodă is currently undergoing a completely different shock: water scarcity The contracting of future production is taking place while the physical situation at Cernavodă remains difficult. Unit 1 underwent a controlled shutdown at the end of July amid extremely low Danube levels, and Unit 2 subsequently entered a controlled shutdown in August. At the beginning of September, both reactors remained unavailable. On September 3, State Secretary Cristian Bușoi stated that hydrological forecasts did not provide the conditions to discuss a restart within the next ten days or so. The situation prompted the Government to approve a new intervention plan for the plant's water supply. The temporary system is to be activated if the water level in the Cernavodă NPP intake basin drops to 1.58 meters , as authorities anticipated a further reduction in the Danube's flow after September 10. A nuclear power plant that normally delivers continuous baseload power has thus become temporarily dependent on an extreme hydrological variable. The simultaneous absence of both units from the grid has made the importance of nuclear generation to Romania's energy balance far more visible. The 2027 sale is not a bet on an exact restart date The transaction with ENGIE could easily be interpreted as proof that Nuclearelectrica expects the current issue at Cernavodă to be fully resolved by next year. However, the commercial document does not support such a technical conclusion. The BVB report establishes the commercial obligation and the delivery period. It does not specify which unit the energy will come from, the hourly delivery profile, the contracted volume, or how the company will manage its commercial position if actual production availability differs from the schedule. The signal is different: the hydrological shock of 2026 has not halted commercial contracting for 2027 . For a large producer, forward power sales allow for the building of a portfolio of revenues and commercial obligations before the energy is actually generated. Operational risk and commercial strategy operate on different timelines. Currently, the first timeline is dominated by the Danube. The second is already looking ahead to next year. 2027 will also be a critical year due to the refurbishment of Unit 1 The year for which Nuclearelectrica is now selling power will be far from ordinary for the company. Unit 1 is approaching the decisive stage of one of Romania's most important energy projects. According to the timeline communicated by Nuclearelectrica in 2026, the preparatory phase of the refurbishment project is set to conclude towards the end of 2027, at which point the reactor will enter the…