EDU II to use bridge loan to finance preparations for units at Czechia’s Dukovany plant

State-controlled company Elektrárna Dukovany II (EDU II) will use a bridge loan from Komerční banka to finance preparatory work and studies ahead of construction of nuclear units at Dukovany. The loan amount has not been disclosed. The news was reported today by Ekonomický deník. The loan is expected to be a temporary solution until the European Commission approves state aid for EDU II.

"This loan will enable EDU II to fund and accelerate the initial phase of construction of a new, modern nuclear power plant that will replace ageing sources," Radek Trachta, Komerční banka’s executive director for corporate lending, said on LinkedIn.

Ekonomický deník noted in this context that Komerční banka is part of France’s Société Générale. Another French company, EDF, unsuccessfully bid to build the Dukovany units.

EDU II will draw the bridge loan in euros. Once state aid is approved, the company is expected to repay the loan to the bank. The state will then be responsible for financing.

Construction of new nuclear units in Czechia is expected to be the largest domestic contract ever. At current prices, the cost of building two reactors at Dukovany is 407 billion crowns. South Korean company KHNP, which won last year’s tender, will be responsible for construction.

At the beginning of August, geological surveys began at the site in Dukovany, in the Třebíč region, and surrounding area where two new nuclear units will be built. These are the project’s first physical works. The work, which is expected to be carried out by Czech companies, should cost hundreds of millions of crowns. According to the current schedule, the first unit is expected to enter service in 2036.

EDU II is 80% owned by the state and 20% by ČEZ. The government decided this spring to buy a majority stake for 3.6 billion crowns.