Collapse of talks between KHNP and Daewoo/Doosan consortium set to delay Czechia's Dukovany NPP expansion

Czech energy analysts have warned that the collapse of talks between Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and a construction consortium of Daewoo Engineering & Construction (KRX: 047040) and Doosan Enerbility (KRX: 034020) could delay works on the Dukovany nuclear power plant expansion.

KHNP, which was selected by the Czech side last year to deliver two new units at Dukovany NPP worth CZK407bn (€16.7bn), terminated talks with the Daewoo – Doosan consortium in what are understood to be disagreements over the price of the construction works.

“It is surprising, it does not amount to the collapse of the project, but it means that Korea wants to lower its risk and potential profit,” Radim Dohnal, analyst at the Capitalinked consultancy told Czech online news outlet Novinky.cz, adding that “it will certainly mean delay in the timetable”.   

“It seems that Korean KHNP underestimated the price of the project, which is key for its subcontractors, in an effort to succeed in the tender” for the Dukovany expansion, commented Edvard Sequens, energy analyst at the Calla energy and environment platform in the Calla press release.

KHNP told Czech media that it wants to select a new construction supplier by July 2027, and still maintain the existing timeline for the project, which is poised to be the largest investment in Czech history.

“The reason for this decision are different positions of the contracting sides on the basic contracting conditions,” KHNP’s Czech media representative Vojtěch Meravý was quoted as saying by Novinky.cz on October 29. 

Meravý added that the talks collapsed “despite intensive effort to reach mutually acceptable agreement,” while Novinky.cz noted that the conflict concerned “the calculation of construction costs” and “who would carry the risk” of rising construction costs.

The Czech side signed the contract with KHNP in June 2025 after the tender was challenged by bidding rivals US Westinghouse and the French EDF and Czech government expects the Dukovany’s fifth block to be completed in 2036 and the sixth one a year later, though critics have long warned this is unrealistic.

This August, Czech Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček admitted in public that the price tag for the Dukovany nuclear power plant enhancement could rise by a staggering CZK300bn (€12.4bn), nearly double on the CZK400bn projection made by the previous cabinet, pointing to the financing costs.

“If we look at how much the [two] new blocks in Dukovany will cost, it will be CZK200bn times two, and with the cost of money we are at CZK600bn-700bn for two large blocks,” Havlíček said then.

The Czech government has adopted the robust nuclear investment plans pursued by the previous cabinet of Petr Fiala, which critics warn sideline cheaper and more tangible investments into renewables.

Fiala’s government launched plans for a huge nuclear power programme to take the place of majority-state-owned energy utility ČEZ’s coal-burning power stations, to prepare for higher electricity demand due to the development of e-mobility and to ensure the country remains self-sufficient in power.

Czech environmentalists argue ČEZ should focus more on renewable energy and that the government remains too beholden to the country's powerful fossil fuel and nuclear energy lobbies.

“We are yet to see how acceptable it will be for the Korean government to pay for the unprofitable project after it was forced to leave all the European projects except Czechia following the settlement over license requirements with US Westinghouse,” Sequens commented.

He added that “we are missing a discussion about possible alternatives, which would replace coal burning faster and secure cheaper electricity for Czech consumers than the Dukovany project”.