CT: Dukovany contract will not guarantee a share for Czech companies

A 60 percent share for Czech companies in the construction of new units at the Dukovany nuclear power plant is unlikely to be enshrined in the contract between energy company ČEZ and South Korea’s KHNP, which is expected to build the units. Industry and Trade Minister Lukáš Vlček (STAN) told Czech Television (ČT) today. However, he said, Czechia will press for KHNP to meet the commitment it made during the tender. The Korean company also promises to deliver on the target. The opposition has criticized the absence of a commitment in the contract.

Vlček said that, according to his information, the contract between ČEZ and KHNP will not include a specific commitment to a precisely defined share for Czech companies in the project. „We do not currently want to tie it to the contract in some way, but we will put pressure on the supplier to meet that target,“ the minister added.

ČEZ board member Tomáš Pleskač told ČT that involving Czech industry in 60 percent of the construction of the new units is a goal for both the semi-state-owned energy company as the project investor and KHNP. „The next stage for us is design and licensing. That is when the specifications for the tenders in which Czech companies will participate will be drawn up,“ he said.

In a statement to ČT, the Korean company reaffirmed its commitment to meeting the target it promised during the tender. „By harnessing the potential of the supply chain in the Czech Republic, KHNP will be able to achieve a localization target of 60 percent or more,“ it said.

The opposition has criticized the absence of a commitment in the contract with ČEZ. „If we are seriously going to claim that we are carrying out the largest project in the history of the Czech Republic, worth CZK 400 billion, and that we will not include an absolutely clear and unequivocal minimum threshold for Czech industry, everyone here will laugh at us,“ ANO first deputy chairman Karel Havlíček told ČT. Representatives of Czech industry associations have also expressed concerns about the lack of a commitment.

KHNP has signed around 80 cooperation memoranda with Czech companies, although most are not yet binding. It has so far been confirmed that Plzeň-based Doosan Škoda Power is expected to supply a steam turbine for the power plant.

The government decided in July to build two new nuclear reactors. It chose the offer from South Korea’s KHNP over that of France’s EDF. The other bidder, the US company Westinghouse, had already been disqualified from the tender. Both companies challenged the tender result with the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), which has so far rejected their objections in a non-final decision. However, a preliminary injunction remains in force, barring ČEZ from signing a contract with KHNP; it will expire only once a final decision has been issued.