South Korean energy giant KHNP has won a multi-billion dollar tender to build two nuclear units at a Czech power plant, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Wednesday, July 17. The contract is estimated to be worth several billion dollars. This is a setback for French giant EDF, which had placed a lot of bets on the tender.
4 mins
There Czech Republic has chosen South Korea for the construction of two new units nuclearat a plant in the south of the country. South Korean giant KHNP won the tender, which was initially launched in 2022, over France’s EDF, in an increasingly competitive market. However, the government had since said it wanted binding bids to build up to four new units at its two Soviet-designed plants at Temelin and Dukovany.
” KHNP’s offer was the best on all our criteria, including price. “, Petr Fiala told reporters. In a statement, the Czech Prime Minister explained why his country chose the South Korean manufacturer to build two new units at the Soviet Dukovany plant. KHNP is relying on a reactor that is up to 30 percent cheaper than its French competitor. According to Petra Fiala, the price offered by KHNP was better than expected, at around 200 billion Czech crowns ($8.65 billion) per unit if two units are built.
The government plans to sign an agreement with the winner by next March. Construction is to begin in 2029, with the first reactor scheduled to go into trial operation in 2036. He added that Czech companies would contribute about 60% to the construction. South Korea will supply its APR1000 pressurized water reactor model, with a capacity of 1,050 MW, designed for European power plants.
While nuclear power accounts for almost a third of the country’s electricity production, Prague wants to increase this share to 50%. The Czech Republic is a strong supporter of Ukraine and for this reason, the Russian Rosatom and the Chinese CGN had been excluded from the call for tenders.
A new setback for EDF, the French electricity company
EDF had placed a lot of emphasis on this call for tenders in which it proposed an EPR1200 model, the French president Emmanuel Macron himself visited Prague in March to support his offer. But facing him, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a self-confessed salesman, has met his Czech counterpart three times since his election in 2022, including most recently on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington last week.
EDF is also weighed down by the accumulated delays of its power plant projects in Finland and England.
In a press release, the French group acknowledged the result of the call for tenders. Nevertheless, EDF stands ready to continue or restart discussions with CEZ and the Czech government if the tender process needs to be modified or readjusted in the coming weeks or months. “, he added.
The power plant manufacturer EDF also pleaded on Wednesday July 17 in favor of “ a European approach ” For relaunch nuclear power on the continent. This decision does not call into question its objective of building two reactors per year from the next decade – one in France, as part of the nuclear recovery programme providing for up to fourteen EPR2 reactors, and another in Europe. This objective does not change, because it is this objective which establishes the series effect in the sector. “, synonymous with industrial performance and cost sharing, assured a spokesperson for the group.
The group says it is in discussions with other countries (the Netherlands, Slovenia, Poland, Finland and Sweden), at a time when nuclear power is regaining popularity in Europe. It is particularly driven by the imperative to move away from fossil fuels and the desire for greater independence from Russia, the largest builder of power plants. According to EDF, Europe plans to build 27 to 49 reactors in the next two decades.
Read alsoThe return of nuclear power in Europe, the recruitment challenge