KHNP boss signed agreements with four local nuclear power companies.
The chief executive officer of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power has visited the Czech Republic and met with government officials and state utility ČEZ as part of KHNP’s efforts to win a tender for new nuclear at the Dukovany site.
Press reports in South Korea, confirmed by KHNP, said Mr Chung Jae-hoon was in the Czech Republic on 2 and 3 September. KHNP said he wanted to “show KHNP’s strong will to participate in the planned tender”.
“Mr Chung discussed ways to cooperate in nuclear power generation between the two countries with Jaroslav Mil, the nuclear power plant special envoy of the Czech Republic, and top executives of ČEZ Group, the largest utility in Central and Eastern Europe,” KHNP said.
It said that during a visit to the Dukovany nuclear power station Mr Chung had signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives of four local nuclear companies to “build a system for cooperation in the whole cycle of the nuclear power plant and expand nuclear power plant localisation”.
In August ČEZ said it was planning to prepare the procedure for choosing a general contractor for the planned expansion of the Dukovany nuclear power station, aiming to begin the selection process before the end of the year.
Pavel Cyrani, ČEZ’s vice-chairman and head of the strategy and business division, said in a statement on the ČEZ group’s half-year results that a framework contract and implementation contract for the first stage of the project had provided ČEZ with “the certainty needed for further preparation of the project”.
The contracts were signed in July between the Czech government, ČEZ and project company Dukovany II Power Plant. They covered the overall general framework of the project and its initial phase, including a tender in which ČEZ will have a preferred list of reactor technology suppliers.
The state, which holds a 70% stake in ČEZ, recently approved plans to give an interest-free loan for the new plant. It has also approved a model to buy electricity from the new unit at a determined price, with consumers making up the difference if that price is higher than wholesale market prices.
A ČEZ spokesperson told NucNet recently that one Generation III+ reactor is planned for the site, with a maximum installed capacity of 1,200 MW. In March, ČEZ filed for permission with the State Office for Nuclear Safety to build up to two new nuclear power plants at Dukovany.
According to International Atomic Energy Agency data, the Czech Republic has six commercial nuclear reactors providing about 35% of its electricity production. There are four reactors a Dukovany and two at Temelín.
In 2014, ČEZ cancelled the tender for construction of two new Temelín units after it failed to get state guarantees for the project.
