PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government on Wednesday selected South Korean company Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) to build two nuclear reactors, with an option for two more, in a tender in which French utility EDF participated unsuccessfully.
KHNP, which built the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, and EDF, Europe’s only reactor builder, were the last two candidates in the running for the tender.
Earlier this year, Prague expanded the tender, run by the 70%-owned energy company CEZ, to allow for the construction of several reactors with a capacity of more than 1,000 megawatts each, instead of just one originally planned.
In this way the government was able to lower the price of each reactor, even though it is the country’s largest energy investment to date.
According to the plans, KHNP will build two new reactors at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, and the country will discuss an option for two additional units at the Temelin plant.
The price per reactor under the contract is estimated at 200 billion crowns (7.91 billion euros), the government said.
“The Korean offer was better in almost all the criteria evaluated,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at a press conference.
“We will build two reactors in Dukovany and negotiations will take place in this direction. And we will discuss options for two additional reactors in Temelin, on which we can decide later.”
Prague plans to sign an agreement with KHNP by the first quarter of 2025.
The central European country is looking to rely more on nuclear power as it plans to phase out coal over the next decade.
Energy company CEZ plans to start construction of the first power plant in Dukovany later this decade, with completion expected in 2036.
CEZ has agreed a financing model with the government for the construction of the first reactor at Dukovany, including low-interest loans and an electricity pricing system – called a contract for difference – to guarantee CEZ a return on the project.
The European Commission has approved state aid for the construction of the first unit.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague, Joyce Lee in Seoul and Dominique Patton in Paris, by Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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