Czechs to rely more on nuclear energy

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas says his government is finalizing a plan to dramatically increase the country's nuclear power production.

PRAGUE —

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas says his government is finalizing a plan to dramatically increase the country's nuclear power production.

Under the plan, at least two more reactors would be built at the Temelin nuclear plant and another at the Dukovany plant, both located near the border with Austria.

The Czech Republic's current six nuclear reactors produce a third of its electricity. Necas said Thursday the government wants that output to increase to at least 50 percent.

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Westinghouse Confirms Strategically Important Partnership With Czech Firm Vitkovice

PRAGUE, July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company today confirmed an important strategic partnership with Czech company Vitkovice a.s., in preparation for the potential construction of Westinghouse AP1000® nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic. 

In accordance with the partnership, Vitkovice will join the Westinghouse/Toshiba/Metrostav team to jointly offer as a potential fabricator of key structural and mechanical equipment modules, should the AP1000 reactor be selected to complete the expansion of the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant. The AP1000 has been designed to make use of modern modular-construction techniques, which allow many more construction activities to proceed in parallel. This reduces the calendar time for plant construction, thereby reducing the cost of money and the exposure risks associated with plant financing. These construction techniques are already being utilized with great success in the U.S. and China. This potential scope of supply represents a very significant percentage of the total plant construction. 

The strategic partnership marks a further important milestone in Westinghouse's ongoing activities to develop and subsequently deliver a highly competitive tender to CEZ, for the construction of two AP1000 reactors at the Temelin site in the South Bohemian region of the country.

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Czech Republic - CEZ Receives Three Bids for Temelin Nuclear Power Project

CEZ AS (CEZ), the Czech Republic’s largest producer of electricity, received three bids for its project to build two new reactors at the Temelin nuclear power station. 

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Areva SA (AREVA) and a Russian-Czech consortium led by Rosatom Corp.’s Atomstroyexport unit, the three bidders selected by CEZ in 2010, submitted their final offers today, the Prague-based utility said in an e-mailed statement.

The new third-generation reactors are intended to replace CEZ’s aged coal-fired plants, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and solidify the Czech Republic’s position as a regional power exporter. CEZ will choose the winner of the tender, whose value is estimated by analysts at $10 billion, before the end of 2013 and the construction should start no later than 2016, it said.

“The construction of new Temelin reactors is a key pillar of CEZ’s strategy,” Chief Executive Officer Daniel Benes said in the statement. “Today marks a significant step towards ensuring steady electricity supply for Czech customers for decades to come.”
 
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By Robert Muller

May 17 (Reuters) - CEZ is committed to building a fifth nuclear reactor at Dukovany despite cost pressures that have clouded the Czech utility's expansion plans, Chief Executive Daniel Benes said on Thursday.
The company also plans to build two units at its other nuclear site at Temelin followed by as many as three more elsewhere in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Hurdles include an uncertain energy market in Europe and opposition to nuclear expansion from neighbouring Germany and Austria.
"We are working on the feasibility study. We have a schedule and we have the intention of getting this project done," Benes told lawmakers in a lower house committee.
"We assume ...the unit might be completed between 2032 and 2035."
He reiterated the Temelin expansion completion date remained at 2025.
CEZ and government officials say building more nuclear reactors including the one at Dukovany is needed to deliver stable electricity prices and safeguard the European Union nation's future energy security.
Last week, CEZ, central Europe's largest listed company, said it would launch a tender to select a potential strategic partner for the multi-billion dollar Temelin expansion project.
Benes said while a strategic partnership was an option, CEZ could potentially build the project on its own if needed.
"When the tender is finished, we would decide with our shareholders whether it makes sense to have a strategic minority partner. It may be that we will pick no one," he said.
Analysts have said CEZ could fund the project without a strategic partner or state guarantees on loans, but that it would take on too much risk without power purchase price guarantees, an option of support which government ministers have been open to.

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Czech power utility CEZ looks for partner to finance building 2 more nuclear reactors

PRAGUE — A state-run utility in the Czech Republic says it is considering joining forces with a strategic partner in a multibillion-dollar project to build two more nuclear reactors at a power station.
CEZ says more than 10 energy companies, mostly from Europe, seem to be among potential partners to help finance and operate the project at the Temelin nuclear power station.
U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co., a subsidiary of Japan’s Toshiba Corp., France’s state-owned nuclear engineering company Areva SA and a consortium led by Russia’s Atomstroyexport are bidding for the lucrative deal with an estimated value of more than $10 billion.
CEZ said in a statement Wednesday a new partner that would be chosen in a tender could join after a deal with the winner is signed in 2013.

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Czech for closer ties with India in nuclear power sector

Czech Republic, the second biggest exporter of nuclear energy to European countries, is keen on having a "very close operation" with India in the nuclear power sector.

Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India Miloslav Stasek said there was a "positive move" in this direction from Czech nuclear firms and the government, which are ready to start supply of parts required for Indian nuclear firms.

Noting that nuclear energy is playing a very important role in the Czech Republic, he said his country was looking forward to a close cooperation with India in this sector.

"Of course, we would like to have a very close cooperation with India in nuclear power sector," he told PTI on the sidelines of a function here.

Stasek said an agreement on nuclear cooperation signed between India and erstwhile Czechoslovakia, which later split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in 1967 is "still valid".

He said the Czech Republic's special envoy for Nuclear Energy visited India thrice and there was a "high profile visit" from India to his country.

"That means there is a regular traffic of high-level visits between both of us. We are trying to focus on the cooperation and to do some joint project in this field," Stasek said.

On last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and its impact on the Indian nuclear energy sector, he said India has learnt a lot from the incident.

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