ŠKODA JS wants to sign as many contracts with Koreans as possible
24. 9. 2024
Plzeň-based Škoda JS, a leading European producer and supplier of nuclear power equipment, wants to sign as many binding documents as possible with the Korean company KHNP by March next year on subcontracts for the construction of two new nuclear power units at Dukovany, the first of which is due to be built in 2036. František Krček, the head of the board of directors and CEO of Škoda JS, informed ČTK after today's visit of Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) and South Korean President Jun Sok-jool, who, in addition to visiting Škoda JS, also toured the Doosan Škoda Power plant.
By March next year, ČEZ and South Korea's KHNP want to sign a contract for the completion of both reactors at Dukovany. In July, the Czech government decided that KHNP should be the one to build them. Fiala announced today in Pilsen that Czech companies could win contracts worth up to CZK 240 billion. "The Korean party has declared that Czech companies will be involved in the preparation and construction of the new nuclear units by up to 60 percent," he stated. However, he said the Czechs must do their best to submit the best bid that will be competitive.
"We want to play the same dignified role as we are currently playing in the construction of the Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia," says Krček. Škoda JS has ambitions to be successful in tenders for equipment supply, assembly, calculations and project localisation, i.e. all the activities it has in its portfolio, he added. "We are offering all of this, and we believe that we can reach an agreement," he said.
The Plzeň company, owned by the ČEZ Group, is already negotiating with the Korean party. "Negotiations are now underway between the contracting authority (ČEZ) and KHNP. Negotiations are also underway with us, and we are discussing the scope and conditions," informed Krček. The Czech Energy Alliance, uniting potential subcontractors to Dukovany, signed a memorandum with KHNP in Pilsen.
"We are convinced and have analysis, for example from the University of Economics in Prague, that the potential of the Czech industry is really to reach 65 percent of the supply. So, if the declared price becomes CZK 400 billion, at 60 percent we are at a figure of CZK 240 billion," said Krček. "We will have to be able to declare terms, quality and expected price."
Krček considers the KHNP nuclear reactors to be world-leading technology, as they are among the last units to be newly commissioned. "The technology is proven. And for us as a manufacturing company, it basically does not matter if we work according to the drawings of this or that technology supplier," said the head of Škoda JS. The company used to produce for VVER plants of Soviet design but has been manufacturing for Western nuclear power plants for decades.
If KHNP builds two more units at the Temelín nuclear power plant, for which it has an option, Škoda JS would also like to participate in the production of reactors in its giant reactor hall, which was shown to the Korean delegation. "But we are not only looking at the four big units (in the Czech Republic), of course, but also at small modular reactors, where we also see a great potential. So I firmly believe that the reactor hall will be fully utilized as it was in the 1980s, when three sets of reactors went through there in one year," Krček hopes.
So far, the Czech Republic has only received permission from the European Commission for 1 new unit at the Dukovany plant. This is not essentially about the peaceful use of nuclear technology in the energy sector - that is allowed - but about non-market state support for the construction and operation of the plant.
Source: Svět hospodářství - see the original here