CEZ to form strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce on modular reactors in Czechia

The partly state-owned energy company CEZ will form a strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce to develop small modular reactors. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) told journalists that the government took note of information from CEZ at its meeting today. According to Fiala, the partnership opens up opportunities for Czech companies to take part in developing this type of nuclear power source and join the global supply chain.

According to Fiala, Czechia is not interested in buying ready-made small modular reactors, but wants to take part in their production on a global scale. He said the strategic partnership between CEZ and Rolls-Royce would make this possible. “Rolls-Royce is only now building its international supply chain. Czechia and Czech companies can be there from the outset and take part in creating it to the greatest extent possible,” the prime minister said.

Fiala described the construction of small modular reactors as a major development for the Czech energy sector that would help boost energy security and self-sufficiency. According to the prime minister, the first modular reactor in Czechia could be built at the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant site in the first half of the 2030s.

In the first half of September, CEZ announced that it would select a partner by the end of this year to develop and operate modular reactors in Czechia. It was considering Westinghouse, GE Hitachi and Rolls-Royce. CEZ was not just looking for a technology supplier, but for a partner to work with on developing small modular reactors.

CEZ plans to build up to ten small modular reactors with a combined capacity of three gigawatts by 2050. The existing conventional nuclear power plants in Dukovany and Temelín each have a capacity of about two gigawatts.

Modular reactors can be mass-produced in factories, with multiple units gradually installed at a single site. According to nuclear energy experts, they differ from large nuclear units mainly in their lower output and faster, simpler construction. Their operation, by contrast, could be similar.