CEZ Seeks Nuclear Partner for Czech Republic

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The Czech Republic's delayed nuclear build programme is in the spotlight again following news that energy company CEZ AS (PRG:BAACEZ) (Prague) plans to launch a tender for a strategic partner to expand the Temelin nuclear plant.

The state-owned company has been trying to build two new reactors at the plant for almost two decades but was blocked in 1993 by the then government. The green light to add Units 3 and 4 was granted in 2009 but the project has been delayed thanks to funding problems and the ongoing poor economic conditions in Europe. The 2,000 MW plant in South Bohemia, 50 kilometres from the Austrian border, is the biggest power producer in the Czech Republic.

"CEZ is prepared to fund the project using its own resources and available debt capacities; however, there are many other interesting investment opportunities, which the CEZ Group might reach if a strategic partner joins the consortium," explained says Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of CEZ.

"The potential split of the risk of the completion and return of the project into several subjects is also motivating. Most of Europe's nuclear projects (France, Finland, Great Britain) are implemented on the basis of various forms of partnerships for this very reason. CEZ may also profit from the strategic partnership by acquiring new know-how connected with the building of nuclear power stations."

CEZ claimed that there are around 10 potential partners suitable for the Temelin project.

Last year, the company invited bids from three approved suppliers that included France's Areva SA (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France), U.S. company Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Monroeville, Pennsylvania) and the MIR.1200 Consortium comprising SKODA JS a.s. (Czech Republic) and Russian companies JSC Atomstroyexport (Moscow) and JSC OKB Gidropress (Moscow). The deadline for those bids is July 2. For additional information see November 7, 2011, article - CEZ Invites Bidders for Temelin Nuclear Project.

The company also plans to move forward with plans to build a fifth reactor at the older Dukovany nuclear plant.

Benes said: "We are working on the feasibility study. We have a schedule and we have the intention of getting this project done".

The Czech Republic's previous government had once claimed that nuclear power would provide up to half of the country's electricity needs. However, in February this year, the new Minister for Industry and Trade, Martin Kuba, said that previous plans to construct up to 18 new reactors throughout the country in the coming decades no longer made sense in the current environment. For additional information see February 13, 2012, article - Czech Republic Abandons Nuclear 'Boom' Plans.

View Project Report - 200004316

View Plant Profile - 1078043 1082760

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.