Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday it has agreed to cooperate with Comex Nucleaire of France in offering postoperational services to French nuclear power facilities.
Japan's largest heavy machinery maker and the major French provider of postoperational services and maintenance to nuclear power plants will establish a joint technical team in Marseilles to facilitate cooperative action in the French market, MHI said.
MHI said it decided to enter the French market as it expects demand for postoperational services to nuclear facilities to grow.
The company will focus on existing nuclear power plants because there will be limited construction of new facilities in the near future, it said.
The alliance is aimed at generating synergy between Comex, which provides maintenance and service expertise to more than half of France's power generation facilities, and MHI, which handles pressurized-water reactor plants, the same type of reactors used in France.
Comex, which belongs to the ONET group, was established in 1990. The firm posted revenues of 25 million euros, or about 2.95 billion yen, in 2001.