Czech watchdog prohibits nuclear power contract signing amid appeals (updated)

Korea Electric Power

30/10/2024 12:10

(Adds tender details, CEZ comment, background in paragraphs
4-7)
       PRAGUE, Oct 30 (Reuters) - 
    The Czech anti-monopoly office UOHS put a temporary block on
the conclusion of a contract with South Korea's KHNP for the
construction of a new nuclear power unit following challenges by
Westinghouse and EDF.
  
        UOHS said that the preliminary measure to prohibit the
conclusion of the contract was not indicative of how the case
will be decided and was standard procedure in such a case. 
  
        The measure comes after the office started official
proceedings work in September on 
    appeals
     from U.S. group Westinghouse and France's EDF against the
country's choice in July of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company
(KHNP) as preferred bidder to build new nuclear reactors. 
  
        The Czech government and majority state-owned utility
CEZ  CEZP.PR  aim to conclude negotiations with KHNP and sign
contracts by next March, and complete the first reactor by 2036.
  
        CEZ said it believed the preliminary measure would not
impact the tender's schedule. "(The company) is convinced it
acted in accordance with the applicable laws from the first
moment in the selection of the preferred bidder," it said.
  
        Legal disputes are a potential sticking point in the
country's largest-ever energy procurement deal, expected to be
worth up to $18 billion at current prices. 
  
        The Czechs plan to use the new nuclear power units,
together with small modular reactors and renewable sources, to
replace a fleet of coal-fired plants as well as some older
nuclear reactors that are nearing the end of their lifespan.
  
    ($1 = 23.4270 Czech crowns)
  

 (Reporting by Jason Hovet; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
 ((jason.hovet@thomsonreuters.com;))