ČEZ to select partner for modular reactor development in Czechia by year-end

ČEZ will select a partner by the end of this year to develop and operate modular reactors in Czechia. It is choosing between Westinghouse, GE Hitachi and Rolls-Royce. Company spokesperson Ladislav Kříž told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today. According to him, state-majority-owned ČEZ plans to build up to ten small modular reactors in the Czech Republic by 2050, with a combined capacity of three gigawatts. The country’s existing conventional power plants at Dukovany and Temelín each have a capacity of about two gigawatts.

ČEZ is not just looking for a technology supplier for the modular reactors, the spokesperson said. „We want to play an active role in their development and construction, rather than just being a buyer — this will bring multiple benefits to the Czech Republic. We will draw on the long-standing nuclear expertise of Czech specialists and companies,“ he said. He added that ČEZ could potentially also offer the developed modular reactor to other customers together with the selected partner. The company will build its first modular reactor at Temelín, he said. According to earlier information, it is expected to be completed in the first half of the next decade.

North American company Westinghouse is developing AP300 SMR reactors, which have a nuclear capacity of 300 megawatts. The company plans to present the economic impact of its reactors on the Czech Republic in Prague today. Japan’s GE Hitachi is designing the BWRX-300 modular reactor, which has the same capacity as the Westinghouse reactor. Rolls-Royce is currently developing a modular reactor with a nuclear capacity of 470 megawatts.

Westinghouse also took part in the tender to build new conventional nuclear units in the Czech Republic, but the government did not invite it to the next stage of the competition at the start of the year because it had failed to meet the requirements. In August, Westinghouse appealed to the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition against the selection of South Korea’s KHNP as the winning bidder. Another unsuccessful bidder for the conventional units, France’s EDF, had previously also expressed interest in developing modular reactors in the Czech Republic. „Early this year, EDF itself postponed its SMR (small modular reactor) development schedule, which no longer meets our timeline,“ Kříž said today.

In the future, small modular reactors will replace coal-fired power plants, according to Kříž, although gas will replace coal first. The modular reactors will be intended primarily to supply heat, he said. Further modular reactors should therefore be built at existing coal-fired power plant sites. According to Kříž, the company has currently identified locations including Prunéřov and Dětmarovice.

Modular reactors can be mass-produced in factories, with multiple units gradually brought together at a single site. According to nuclear energy experts, they differ from large nuclear units mainly in their lower capacity and faster, simpler construction. Their operation, by contrast, could be similar. The cost of modular reactors is not yet clear, Kříž said, because none have been built anywhere in the world so far.

At the end of August, the state signed a security agreement with ČEZ for the development of small and medium-sized modular reactors. The agreement is intended to safeguard the state’s security interests when selecting a future partner to develop and build such reactors in the Czech Republic. For example, ČEZ will keep the state informed about its choice of supplier.