Korea's KHNP selected to build at least 2 new nuclear reactors in Czech Republic

South Korea’s KHNP won a lucrative public tender to build at least two nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic as the country tries to become more energy independent and wean itself off fossil fuels, the Czech government said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the bid by the Korean company was better “in practically all the criteria” than a competing bid by France’s EDF.

A contract is due to be signed by the end of March 2025. The first new reactor is expected to become operational for a trial by 2036, the second about two years later.

The government made its decision after state-controlled power company CEZ assessed the bids for the multi-billion-dollar contract.

KHNP and EDF submitted bids to build at least one reactor at the existing Dukovany nuclear power station in April.

The two new reactors will complement Dukovany’s four 510-megawatt units that were completed in the 1980s. The government estimated they would each cost about 200 billion Czech crowns ($8.6 billion).

As part of the bidding, the companies had also submitted offers to build three more nuclear reactors.

The government will open negotiations with KHNP about building two more reactors at the country’s other nuclear plant in Temelin, Fiala said.

The prime minister previously said the additional reactors could reduce the price per reactor by up to 25%.

Russia’s Rosatom and China’s CNG were excluded from the tender on security grounds.

The government said in January that a bid by U.S. firm Westinghouse didn’t meet its conditions.

The Czech Republic already relies on six nuclear reactors to generate more than a third of its total electricity. Besides the four in Dukovany, state-controlled power company CEZ operates another two 1,000-megawatt reactors at the Temelin plant.

Unlike its western neighbors Austria and Germany, the Czech Republic is doubling down on nuclear power and renewable energy sources after deciding to phase out coal as a fuel for energy generation by 2033 in order to reduce carbon emissions.

Another two European Union countries in Central Europe, Slovakia and Hungary, have also been working to expand nuclear power production. Another neighbor, Poland, has selected Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant as part of an effort to burn less coal and gain greater energy independence.