Bidders finalise offers for Dukovany unit, deadline is Oct 2

Prague, Sept 14 (CTK) - Bidders have until October 2 to finalise offers to build a new unit at nuclear power plant Dukovany as the original deadline of mid-September was postponed by energy group CEZ at their request, CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz told CTK today.

The new unit should be completed by 2036.

Initial bids for the new unit were submitted last autumn by French company EDF, South Korean firm KHNP and US company Westinghouse.

CEZ, which is in charge of the project, did not disclose the details of the bids.

In the spring, the company held clarification meetings with the bidders to explain some of the terms of the tender and the first bids. Subsequently, CEZ invited them to submit final bids. All bidders had declared that they would submit them.

Last year, along with the bids for the construction of the new Dukovany reactor, CEZ also received bids for options for another unit at Dukovany and the construction of the third and fourth units at nuclear power plant Temelin.

Both CEZ and the state have previously admitted that additional nuclear power plant units will probably be needed in the future to cover electricity consumption in the Czech Republic.

The project is expected to be the largest investment in the Czech Republic's modern history. Government and CEZ representatives said the new reactor may cost about Kc160bn at 2020's prices. The exact price will be known only after the tender is completed.

Czechia has six nuclear units in two power plants. Temelin, southern Bohemia, has two units, each with a capacity of about 1,000 megawatts (MW), while Dukovany, southern Moravia, has four smaller units with a capacity of 510 MW each.

In addition to new conventional reactors, CEZ is also preparing the construction of small modular reactors. The first of them should be built in Temelin.

vr/er