EDF plans no further legal action over Czech tender for Dukovany reactors

French company EDF is not planning to take any further legal action in Czechia over the tender to build new units at the Dukovany nuclear power plant. The company said so today in a statement provided to the Czech News Agency (ČTK). EDF had so far sought to overturn South Korean company KHNP’s victory in the tender through the courts. On Wednesday, the Brno Regional Court dismissed EDF’s lawsuit against the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition’s (ÚOHS) decision on the tender. Elektrárna Dukovany II (EDU II), which is responsible for the nuclear tender, signed final construction contracts with KHNP in early June.

EDF could still have challenged Wednesday’s ruling by the Brno Regional Court by filing a cassation complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS), but it will not do so. “EDF takes note of the Brno court’s decision announced on 25 June 2025. EDF confirms that it will take no further legal action in the Czech Republic in connection with EDU II’s tender for the construction of a new nuclear power plant at Dukovany,” the company said today in a statement sent to ČTK.

The case before the court in Brno concerned the ÚOHS decision rejecting EDF’s objections to the procedure in the competition, which KHNP won last July. The Brno Regional Court had previously issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the signing of contracts between the state and KHNP, but the NSS overturned the injunction. Representatives of EDU II and KHNP then signed contracts for the construction of two nuclear units at Dukovany on 4 June. If the Brno court and higher courts had ruled in EDF’s favour, the company could have sought damages.

The antitrust authority examined the contract for several months. Both unsuccessful bidders, EDF and US company Westinghouse, filed objections to KHNP’s selection, but Westinghouse later withdrew its appeal. The ÚOHS did not examine the tender conditions themselves because EDU II selected the supplier outside a procurement procedure, under a security exemption. Under the law, objections to the contracting authority’s procedure cannot be filed in such cases. The Brno court considered whether the ÚOHS should have examined the tender conditions themselves, or whether it was right to rule that EDF could not file objections under the law. It ruled in favour of the antitrust authority. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) and EDU II welcomed the ruling.

The construction of new nuclear units in Czechia is expected to be the country’s largest-ever contract. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred plan to build two reactors at Dukovany is 407 billion koruna. The first unit at Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036.