ŠKODA JS offers equipment and know-how for nuclear power plants under construction and also for the planned ones
21. 6. 2021
Source: ČTK, ENERGY-HUB
Plzeň, 06 June (ČTK) - ŠKODA JS from Plzeň offers its equipment and know-how for nuclear power plants under construction or in preparation and participates in a number of tenders for the construction of nuclear power units around the world. The company is also active outside the nuclear power industry. We want to be prepared for the situation when more steam power plants would be built in the Czech Republic, said the General Director František Krček to ČTK. The company is offering its equipment and know-how for example to Finnish Hanhikivi, which is expected to get the construction permit this year. "In this project, there are a number of tenders we are participating in, for example the tender for large pipe penetrations," said Mr. Krček.
The situation is similar in the public tenders for Paks 2 in Hungary, where ground works are in progress. In Ukraine, the company is working on 14 out of 15 units. "In September, we restarted negotiations with Energoatom, the operator of the Ukrainian power plants, about the completion of units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant. This project is almost identical to the one in Temelín. Two units are in operation, and two more are to be completed. We have been asked whether we would be interested in continuing the project. Teams of specialists are already on the site and analyses of the completion are being prepared," he said. Last year, ŠKODA JS also started production of reactor internals for the 1600 MW EPR units of the British Hinkley Point C power plant. Thus tens of tons of parts will be manufactured in Plzeň by 2022.
The company is also active outside nuclear energy, for example in the construction of steam and gas power plants. "We want to be prepared for other steps of the government towards reducing CO2 emissions while maintaining the diversification of sources," said Krček.
The company also monitors the projects of small modular reactors (SMR) and wants to be prepared both for the results of technical development and for a possible change in the course of the state's energy concept. If the state reconsiders the concept and starts supporting SMR, then, according to Krček, it is a run for at least 20 years. "We make analyzes, we follow trends, but so far we are not actively developing anything in this area," said Krček. In his opinion, SMRs have a place on the market, for example in remote places with complicated transport of coal or gas. "But I don't know how much it makes sense to put 12 units side by side or a reactor next to each county town when we're unable to build highways that people have been blocking for years. This technology has a future, but at the moment it is extremely irresponsible to postpone or cancel the construction of conventional nuclear units and hope for the rapid availability of SMR projects.
In ten years we will not be much more advanced, only the energy balance will be more strained and the need for new resources more acute," he said. He thinks development went logically and naturally from small to large units. Hard data confirm that economic advantage increases with greater power output, he added.
ŠKODA JS a.s. reported a gross profit of over 122 million last year and revenues of over CZK 3.3 billion. In 2020, the company with 1,070 people signed contracts worth more than CZK 3.5 billion. This year, it expects at least the same sales and profit.
Author: Václav Prokš
Source: ČTK, ENERGY-HUB