More than 80% of the electricity production capacity of the new nuclear reactors in the works in Romania could power a Black Sea AI Gigafactory project, according to a plan laid out by the government.
Romania has already secured financing and partners to develop units 3 and 4 at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant, with a total installed capacity of 1,400 MW, as well as a small modular reactor (SMR) power plant of 462 MW at Doicești. About 1,500 MW of this newly installed power could go towards 100,000 AI accelerators housed by an AI Gigafactory.
“The project provides for the installation of over 100,000 AI accelerators in two distinct locations: Cernavodă (Phase I) and Doicești (Phase II), both selected for their strategic advantages in terms of energy, digital infrastructure, and access to international connectivity. The project will be powered by an energy mix of up to a maximum of 1,500 MW, positioning Romania as a strategic hub for high-performance computing, environmentally friendly, with carbon-free nuclear energy,” according to a memorandum approved on Thursday, November 27, and cited by Profit.ro.
The Black Sea AI Gigafactory project has been announced before, but the government has now designated the Energy Ministry as the main coordinator of the project. The ministry will plan for the locations of the Gigafactory, identify energy sources, connections to the grid, and handle the relationship with the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), a public-private initiative which seeks to make Europe a world leader in supercomputing, and the European Commission.
In addition, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance are mandated as coordinators in charge of preparing, negotiating, and involving relevant actors from the public, private, academic, and research sectors for the Black Sea AI Gigafactory project.
Romania is competing with other member states to host such centres, with the stake being to obtain partial financing for the project.
“It is estimated that the national Black Sea AI Gigafactory project will require an investment of EUR 4–5 billion and that it will be operational at the end of 2028. Public authorities, both at the EU level and at the national level, can finance up to 35% of total CAPEX (capital expenditures), with most of the financing needing to be mobilized through private partners/investors, national development banks (in Romania’s case, the Investment and Development Bank) and institutional investors,” the government said in the memorandum.
To develop the project, the executive also sent an official letter to the World Bank asking for technical assistance. This request has already been discussed with representatives of the institution during the annual meetings of the World Bank Group in October.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, major tech companies have turned to nuclear energy to power data and AI centers. A similar trend can be observed in other industries seeking clean 24/7 power and heat, such as petrochemicals and cryptocurrency.
Romania’s nuclear sector, represented by Nuclearelectrica (BVB: SNN), has a long tradition of operating safely and is backed by the state. Nuclear power accounts for over 17% of the country’s energy consumption at the moment.
Romania also collaborates with the United States for the development of the Doicești SMR plant, based on the Intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation.
(Photo source: Pavel Kachanau | Dreamstime.com)
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