The Czech Republic is moving forward as planned with its $25 billion nuclear power generation expansion as increased clean electricity production will allow the country to meet emissions reduction targets, the country's industry minister said in Wednesday's Austrian economic newspaper Der Wirtschaftsblatt.
The Czech Republic is moving forward as planned with its $25 billion
nuclear power generation expansion as increased clean electricity production
will allow the country to meet emissions reduction targets, the country's
industry minister said in Wednesday's Austrian economic newspaper Der
Wirtschaftsblatt.
Martin Kocourek said construction could begin on two new nuclear reactor blocks
at Temelin as early as 2015, with the units then coming online by 2025 at the
latest. Whether further blocks would be built, he said, depends on the share of
nuclear energy in the government's energy policy and on developments in
neighboring
Slovakia
,
where one of the five new reactors planned by Czech 70%-state-owned power
company CEZ AS (BAACEZ.PR) could be built.
Kocourek added that a fifth block may be constructed at CEZ's existing Dukovany
nuclear power plant in the South East Czech Republic.
Later this year the Czech government will release final parameters of the
tender, will accept bids next year, and is expected to announce the winner in
2013. The short-listed companies in the tender process are Westinghouse
Electric Co., a U.S.-based unit of
Japan
's
Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO),
France
's
state-owned Areva SA (CEI.FR), and
Russia
's
state-owned Atomstroyexport.
Investments in nuclear energy are not being carried out with the intention of
exporting electricity (despite the fact that the country already exports to its
neighbors), but to provide cheap electricity to the Czech economy as coal plant
closures are planned over the next 10 years, he said.
Renewable energy is just too expensive in the
Czech
Republic
, Kocourek said, adding that
while the country would meet its European Union requirement that 13% of its
energy come from renewable sources by 2020, the country had no plans to exceed
this amount.
"We don't have that much sun, little wind, and not a lot of water,"
said Kocourek.
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