Czechia will need four new nuclear reactors in future, Hladík says

The Czech Republic will need four new nuclear reactors in the future; the question is when it will be necessary and economically advantageous to build them. Environment Minister Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) said this today on Czech Television. The government is expected to decide on the bidders’ offers to build new units in the Czech Republic by the end of June. According to the minister, the economic terms of the offers will be decisive in determining how many of the currently selected units to build.

At the end of January, the government invited EDF and KHNP, which had entered the Czech nuclear tender, to submit binding offers to build up to four new reactors at Dukovany and Temelín. Both companies have until the end of April to submit their offers. The government is expected to select the winner in the summer, including the number of reactors it wants to build.

According to Hladík, it is clear that Czechia will need all four new reactors in the future. However, the timeframe for building them will be a matter of debate. The bidders’ offers will determine how many units the government commissions in the current tender. Hladík said that ensuring the projects deliver low electricity prices in the long term and a reliable energy supply over time will be key to the decision. If it proves advantageous to commission all four reactors at once, the government will decide to do so, he said.

Opposition SPD deputy chairman Radim Fiala also agreed that more nuclear reactors need to be built. Fiala considers nuclear power to be the future of Czechia and criticised the state for being up to twelve years behind schedule in developing nuclear energy sources.

The new reactor project is expected to be the largest investment in Czechia’s modern history. Construction of the first reactor is due to begin in 2029, with trial operation starting in 2036. According to earlier statements by the government and ČEZ, one new reactor is expected to cost around 160 billion crowns in 2020 prices. Government representatives declined to comment on the prices offered for a single unit in the original bids, but said the offers had shown that it made sense to consider building more reactors, which will be needed as coal-fired sources are phased out and electricity consumption is expected to rise. Experts estimate that building four new reactors could cost around two trillion crowns.

Czechia has six nuclear units at two power plants. Two units, each with a capacity of approximately 1000 megawatts (MW), are at Temelín in South Bohemia. Four smaller units with a capacity of 510 MW are at Dukovany in the Třebíč district. Alongside new conventional reactors, ČEZ is also preparing to build small modular reactors. The first is expected to be built at Temelín.