EDF and Westinghouse appeal Czech antitrust office decision in nuclear tender

French company EDF and US-based Westinghouse have appealed a decision by the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), which rejected their objections to the Dukovany nuclear plant tender in late October. The antitrust office confirmed to CTK today that it had received both appeals. EDF informed CTK this morning that it had filed an appeal. The French company is protesting the contracting authority’s procedure and its selection of South Korea’s KHNP as the preferred bidder. Westinghouse has not yet commented on its next steps.

„The Office for the Protection of Competition has received appeals from Électricité de France and Westinghouse Electric Company against first-instance decisions concerning the public contract for the construction of a new nuclear power plant, or plants. Appeal proceedings usually take up to 60 days from the time the case file is transferred,“ ÚOHS spokesperson Martin Švanda told CTK in response to a query.

The government decided in July to build two new nuclear reactors. It chose an offer from South Korea’s KHNP over EDF’s bid; the other bidder, Westinghouse, had already been excluded from the competition.

EDF and Westinghouse filed objections to the selection of their competitor in the tender in late August. In their appeals, they questioned the Korean company’s right to use the technology it had offered and the transparency of the proceedings. The French company specifically said that regulations on foreign subsidies had been breached. Both companies also described the contracting authority’s procedure as unlawful, saying, among other things, that it had failed to comply with the fundamental principles of public procurement, particularly in connection with the selection of the preferred supplier.

After about two months, the antitrust office ruled that the tender had been conducted properly and rejected the objections. The decisions are not yet final, however, as the bidders can appeal. Before that, ÚOHS had also prohibited the signing of a contract with KHNP until it had issued a final ruling on the matter.

EDF confirmed today that it filed an appeal late last week. „In its appeal, EDF is asking the chair of ÚOHS to review EDF’s complaint, as it disagrees with the decision issued on 30 October 2024,“ the company said.

In the summer, the government decided that it wants to build two new nuclear units at Dukovany. The first of the new reactors is expected to be completed in 2036. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred plan to build two reactors is 400 billion crowns. The partly state-owned energy company ČEZ is now negotiating a contract with the Koreans, which the parties are expected to sign by the end of March 2025. The state is also counting on an option to build two more reactors at Temelín in the future.

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