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CEZ gets French, S.Korean quotes to build up to 4 nuclear power systems

Czech bulk stateowned utility CEZ has actually received updated binding bids from South Korea's KHNP and France's EDF in a tender to develop to 4 nuclear power units, the company said on Tuesday.

The Czech Republic, which prepares to keep nuclear power as a. major part of its energy mix in the coming years, had widened. the tender to perhaps build several blocks with capacity of. more than 1,000-megawatts each, up from an initially planned. one unit.

The tender is structured as a firm quote for one system at CEZ's. Dukovany nuclear reactor, plus a binding option for up to. 3 more: an additional system at Dukovany and 2 at CEZ's. Temelin facility.

The strategy to broaden nuclear power capacity got an included boost. on Tuesday when the European Commission gave approval to state. aid for constructing the first system.

The federal government, which owns 70% in CEZ, stated the choice. might be a basis for assistance for any further blocks that the. federal government chooses to build.

The government will examine the providers' quotes together with. CEZ, among central Europe's greatest business with a market. worth of nearly $20 billion, and select the winner in the coming. months, seeking to sign an agreement by end-March 2025.

Nuclear now attends to more than a 3rd of usage. in our nation and it ought to be even half in the future, Prime. Minister Petr Fiala stated.

The federal government and CEZ broadened the scope of the tender to. aid lower the cost of each block in what is anticipated to be the. country's largest energy financial investment to date.

CEZ has actually agreed a funding model with the government,. including low-interest loans and guaranteed power list prices,. for the building of one system at Dukovany.

But management has stated the company might not replicate the. design four times, and critics have said the nation, with gross. domestic product of 293 billion euros ($ 314.13 billion), could. find it hard to fund 4 units.

Hold-ups and expense overruns are common across the industry, however. analysts have stated that EDF's European production base and. France's political support in the EU spoke to its favour.

The cost of EDF's 3,200-megawatt Hinkley Point C plant in. Britain has more than doubled to $43 billion, plus a considerable. inflation change, and its launch date has actually been pressed back. by years.

KHNP has actually faced smaller sized delays to its 5,600-megawatt plant in. the United Arab Emirates and has joined a task in Poland, however. has yet to build a reactor in the EU.

The Czech federal government has yet to set the size of a loan that. belongs to the state assistance that got EU approval on. Tuesday. It stated ensured list price will be set for 40. years, longer than at Hinkley Point C, in a model to supply. investor stability and the ability to pay back the loan.

(source: Reuters)