EDF and KHNP to submit bids in Czech nuclear tender by Tuesday, state to learn cost of multiple units

The state will find out in the coming days how much it will cost to build multiple nuclear units in Czechia. The deadline for submitting binding bids to build them expires on Tuesday, with French company EDF and South Korea’s KHNP interested. Both companies have confirmed that they will submit bids. The state-controlled company ČEZ, which is overseeing the tender, will then analyse the bids and is expected to submit them to the government in June. The government is then expected to decide who wins the tender and how many units should ultimately be built in the Czech Republic. According to current plans, the first of them should be operational by 2036.

The government invited EDF and KHNP to submit binding bids for multiple reactors at the end of January this year. It made the decision after analysing the initial bids to build one reactor at Dukovany, which also included non-binding options for additional units. According to Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), the bidders’ non-binding offers for building multiple reactors were up to 25% more favourable than building just one unit. He did not disclose the prices offered. North American company Westinghouse, meanwhile, dropped out of the nuclear tender after the cabinet said it had failed to meet the original tender conditions.

The deadline for submitting the expanded binding bids was initially set for 15 April. However, following a request from EDF, it was ultimately moved to the end of April. In connection with the new deadline, both invited companies confirmed that they would submit bids.

The government’s strategic energy documents also envisage building multiple units. They say two new units could be built at Dukovany and two at Temelín.

The new reactor project is expected to be the largest investment in the Czech Republic’s modern history. According to previous statements by the government and ČEZ, one new reactor is expected to cost about 160 billion Kč in 2020 prices. Government representatives declined to comment on the prices in the initial bids. Some economists estimated in January that building four reactors could cost as much as two trillion crowns.

The Czech Republic currently 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 located at Dukovany in the Třebíč region. In addition to new conventional reactors, ČEZ is also preparing to build small modular reactors. The first is expected to be built at Temelín.