Both companies appealed decision to award contract to South Korea’s KHNP
The Czech anti-monopoly office UOHS preliminarily rejected on Thursday (31 October) complaints made by France’s EDF and US-based Westinghouse against Czech energy company ČEZ’s decision to continue exclusive negotiations with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) to build two new nuclear power plants at the Dukovany power station.
The authority noted in its decision that both complaints were inadmissible because they fell outside legal grounds, as the tender was conducted under a security exemption.
This exemption in Czech law allows ČEZ to proceed without complying with the general rules for public procurement. ČEZ said bidders were informed about the exemption and their complaints are inadmissible.
However, the decision is only preliminary. The UOHS has invited EDF and Westinghouse to appeal the decision within two months and maintains a veto on the signing the contract between ČEZ and KHNP.
Both companies claimed that foreign subsidy regulations had been infringed.
EDF had questioned if the tendering process “adheres to the principles of fair trade and transparency,” arguing that KHNP’s guarantees on price might result in the use of public finances if project costs are exceeded.
Westinghouse also questioned the use of a national security exception that suspended public procurement rules, it said. Westinghouse also appealed a decision not to be invited into the second round of the tender.
EDF has also filed a complaint with the European Union competition regulator over the decision to pick KHNP.
EDF said it wants to ensure that KHNP’s offer to ČEZ “respects fundamental European principles, laws and regulations”.
The UOHS ruling was published the day after it announced a temporary hold on signing the contract pending a decision on the case.
Speaking on Wednesday, deputy prime minister Vlastimil Válek said that was “the standard procedure of the Office” and happens in many hundreds of cases a year "so it's nothing out of the ordinary – it’s part of our legislation and I don't think it should jeopardise any of that timetable in any way”.
ČEZ said in a statement that its project company for the two new units had proceeded from the very beginning in accordance with the applicable laws and it was “conducting negotiations with the preferred supplier, which is the Korean company KHNP, regarding the form of the final contract”.
That contract should be ready for signing by 31 March 2025. ČEZ said it can be expected that by then the UOHS will be able to make a decision in the proceedings so that the signing of the contract with the preferred supplier is not delayed.
