Ministry receives CEZ's evaluation of bids for nuke unit construction

Prague, June 14 (CTK) - The Industry and Trade Ministry today received a notification from semi-state energy group CEZ on the evaluation of bids for the construction of up to four nuclear units in the Czech Republic, submitted by French company EDF and South Korea's KHNP at the end of April, CEZ told CTK.

CEZ has analysed the bids and today submitted their evaluation and its recommendation on the preferred order of the bids, CEZ said without providing details of the bids.

According to the current timetable, the government is expected to select the winner of the tender in July. It will also decide on the number of reactors to be built.

One new nuclear unit should be built in Dukovany, southern Moravia, while in case of a larger construction, up to two units would be built in Dukovany and two in Temelin, southern Bohemia.

Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela confirmed the receipt of the evaluation report.

"The government now has the opportunity to comment on this report from the perspective of national security interests. We will announce the selection of the preferred bidder in July, together with how we will use the option to build more nuclear units at the Dukovany and Temelin sites," Sikela said.

According to CEZ, the bids were evaluated by over 180 experts from inside and outside the company, focusing mainly on the economic, commercial and technical aspects.

"The bid evaluation model was set up based on the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency. All price inputs and all risks were quantified. Both bids were compared according to the same criterion, namely the price per megawatt-hour produced, at which the new unit from each of the bidders would produce electricity," said Tomas Pleskac, CEZ board member and head of the new energy division.

It is currently expected that the contracts with the selected bidder should be finalised and ready for signing by the end of next March. In the event of significant changes in the contract conditions compared to the submitted bid, the second bidder could be invited, CEZ noted. The contracts will be followed by the preparation of project documentation so as to meet the 2036 deadline for the start of test operation of the new unit.

The new reactor project is expected to be the Czech Republic's largest investment in modern history, with earlier statements by the government and CEZ suggesting that one new reactor would cost about Kc160bn at 2020 prices. Government representatives and CEZ have declined to comment on the prices offered in the bids. Some economists estimated in January that the construction of four reactors could cost up to Kc2,000bn.

The Czech Republic currently has six nuclear units in two power plants. Two units, each with a capacity of about 1,000 megawatts (MW), are in Temelin. Four smaller units with a capacity of 510 MW each are in Dukovany. In addition to new conventional reactors, CEZ is also preparing to build small modular reactors. The first of them should be built in Temelin.

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