EDF to appeal Czech antitrust office ruling in nuclear tender, BFM-TV reports

French energy company EDF will appeal a ruling by the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) concerning its complaints about the Czech nuclear tender. An EDF spokesperson told BFM-TV. At the end of October, ÚOHS rejected objections from the French company and US firm Westinghouse, but the decision can be appealed to the head of the office.

„EDF intends to file an appeal in the near future,“ the French energy company’s spokesperson said, according to BFM TV.

She did not give a more precise date. According to information on the ÚOHS website, in public procurement cases an appeal can be filed with the head of the office within 15 days of receipt of the first-instance decision.

On Thursday, October 31, the Czech antitrust office issued a press release announcing that it had rejected objections to the nuclear tender filed by EDF and Westinghouse, which did not win the contract. ÚOHS also prohibited the signing of a contract with the tender winner, South Korean company KHNP, until the office has issued a final ruling on the matter. That would happen after the deadline for filing an appeal expires, if no appeal is filed, or after a decision by the head of ÚOHS if EDF or Westinghouse appeals.

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

The first of the new reactors at Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred option of building two reactors is 400 billion crowns. Semi-state energy company ČEZ is now negotiating a contract with the Koreans, which the parties are expected to sign by the end of March 2025.