EDU II asks court to lift preliminary injunction on Dukovany project in Czechia

Elektrárna Dukovany II (EDU II) on Monday filed a motion with the Regional Court in Brno to lift the preliminary injunction that blocked the signing of the final agreement to build nuclear units at Dukovany. In addition to the cassation appeal it had already filed, the company has used another legal tool in an effort to defend its conduct in the tender. EDU II, which is responsible for the nuclear tender, announced this today.

The signing of the final agreement with South Korea’s KHNP was originally planned for 7 May, but the Regional Court in Brno blocked the signing with a preliminary injunction the day before. It did so at the request of French company EDF, which challenged in court a decision by the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS). The decision had found the tender to be in order. The court has not yet ruled on EDF’s lawsuit.

"The Regional Court issued the preliminary injunction solely on the basis of claims made by the unsuccessful bidder, France’s EDF, without giving the other parties any opportunity to comment. In addition to the cassation appeal already filed, EDU II is using another legal tool to defend the soundness of its procedure for selecting the most suitable supplier and remove the obstacle preventing the contract from being signed with it," EDU II said in a statement today.

EDU II filed a cassation appeal against the injunction with the Supreme Administrative Court a week ago on Monday. KHNP filed its own appeal the following day. The companies say the Regional Court did not adequately assess the public interest associated with building the new reactors.

EDU II reiterated today that the project is key to ensuring the Czech Republic’s future energy security and self-sufficiency. The company says the delay in signing the final agreement is pushing back all subsequent steps in the construction schedule, including the first unit’s originally planned start-up in 2036.

The government decided to build two new nuclear reactors last July. It chose South Korea’s KHNP over France’s EDF. Another bidder, Westinghouse, had already been eliminated from the competition.

The construction of new nuclear units in the Czech Republic is expected to be the largest domestic contract ever. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred plan to build two reactors at Dukovany is 407 billion korunas.