CTK reported that Czech energy group CEZ has postponed the official date of completing nuclear power plant Temelin's extension by 5 years until 2025.
Mr Ladislav Kriz, spokesman for CEZ that operates Temelin, said that it was rather an administrative measure and that CEZ expected the project to be completed earlier.
Originally, the Temelin project was scheduled to be completed in 2020. Under new conditions, the construction period is 12 years. If CEZ picks the winner of the tender in 2013, as expected, the project will be completed in 2025.
The tender documents will be sent to the bidders by the end of this year. The participants will submit their bids next year and the winner of the tender will be picked in 2013.
Mr Kriz said that "These are fixed terms. Everything else will ensue from the bids and from talks with the winner. Only then can we set realistic deadlines for the construction. The period of 12 years is a maximum length of time set by the law. We are, however, convinced that the power plant will be completed earlier than in 2025."
Originally, CEZ planned to pick the supplier next year but the tender was postponed because the bidders had not convinced CEZ that they would be able to submit quality bids by the original deadlines.
The bidders in the tender are US firm Westinghouse, France's Areva and a consortium of Russian companies Atomstroyexport and Gidropress and Czech company Skoda JS.
The volume of the contract, including two new reactors plus a promise of another three of the same type, is estimated to amount to hundreds of billions of crowns.
CEZ has already informed the bidders about the changes in documentation. CEZ has also changed the minimum period during which bidders are bound by the conditions stated in their bids from 12 to 24 months.
According to analyst Mr Bohumil Trampota of the company Atlantik, the news about the postponement of the Temelin completion deadline should not have a fundamental influence on trading with CEZ shares.
Mr Trampota said that "In our opinion it is just a cushion CEZ is making in case of a delay and postponement of the entire project. Experience from the construction of nuclear power plant throughout the world shows that delays of projects are common."
(Sourced from Czech News Agency)
