Three in race for Czech nuclear project

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), EDF and Westinghouse have made initial bids to build a nuclear plant in the Czech Republic.

The 2040MW NPP Dukovany nuclear plant in the Czech Republic. Photo: Adobe Stock

The proposed 1200MW pressurised water reactor is to be built in the country’s southeast, 30 km southeast of the town of Třebíč, and adjacent to the currently operating NPP Dukovany plant.

It is expected that the reactor will be operational by 2036 and the new plant will be used to replace a percentage of the installed capacity of the current 2040MW plant, which has been in operation since 1985.

The project for the new plant will be awarded by the Czech Republic’s state-owned CEZ Group, which has announced plans to build more nuclear units, as the country looks to diversify away from coal power.

Bidding battle

Tomas Pleskac, the director of CEZ New Energy Division, said, “Since the tender launched in March this year, we have seen careful preparation from all bidders. They assembled strong teams for this contract, asked a number of clarifying questions and visited the Dukovany site.”

With final bids expected for the project by September 2023, it is reported that Westinghouse has partnered with Bechtel for its bid, while EDF would combine with Bouygues Travaux Publics and GE Steam Power on the project.

KHNP said its APR1000 reactor meets all of CEZ’s technology requirements for the project.

All of the bidders will be keen to be awarded the contract, with three further plants currently proposed in the country.

Although the current value of the project has not been made public, it was, in 2020, estimated at approximately €6 billion.