Czech state to prepare power purchase agreement for Dukovany under government decree

The government will prepare a power purchase agreement for the construction of new nuclear units at Dukovany. It will be a key part of the state’s support for the project. This is provided for in a government decree, which the Ministry of Industry and Trade has now submitted for consultation and which is necessary to establish the agreement. Czechia received European Commission approval for public support for the first reactor in the spring and is now seeking approval for the second planned unit at Dukovany.

In July, the government decided to build two new nuclear reactors at Dukovany. They are to be built by South Korea’s KHNP, which won the tender in which the Czech government chose it over French company EDF. The first of the new reactors at Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036.

„The means of supporting the energy security of the Czech Republic, following the Ministry’s decision to grant state authorization under the Energy Act for the construction of an electricity generating facility at a low-carbon facility at the Dukovany site, is a power purchase agreement,“ the draft government decree states.

The Czech Republic received so-called notification from the European Commission in April, approving public support for the construction of one unit at Dukovany. The state will provide financial assistance for the project and also guarantee the power plant’s revenue stability through a power purchase agreement. The aforementioned government decree will enable the agreement.

The government is also negotiating with the Commission to obtain notification for the second unit. It intends to base this on the first public support model. The cabinet also wants to prepare a power purchase agreement for the second unit, but this will only be possible once notification has been obtained.

At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred plan to build two reactors is 400 billion crowns. Over the next three to five years, energy company ČEZ is also expected, under the government’s decision, to discuss with the Koreans an option to build two more units at Temelín.