On 29 October 2026 the Korean company KHNP announced that it had ended without agreement its talks on a construction contract for the new units at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Station with a consortium of Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Doosan Enerbility.
The Korean company KHNP told the Czech News Agency on 29 October 2026 that it had formally ended talks on a construction contract for the project of new nuclear units at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Station with a consortium of the Korean firms Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Doosan Enerbility. According to KHNP the reason is differing positions on key contract terms. The company is starting the process of terminating the existing cooperation agreement with the consortium and is preparing a new tender for a construction contractor. At the same time it wants to ensure continuity of key parts of the project in the interim period and to carry out some steps directly.[1][2]
According to Novinky.cz, which draws on information from the Korean outlet BusinessKorea and on confirmation from KHNP, neither working-level talks, nor a meeting of the coordination committee, nor talks between the firms' leadership led to an agreement. According to Novinky the dispute mainly concerned the calculation of construction costs and the distribution of the risk of their possible growth. The same source says the consortium objects that as construction contractor it cannot bear all the additional costs caused by changes to the technical design without an adjustment of the price. According to Novinky both firms rejected that the talks had ended in failure and said they had wanted to continue until at least the end of the year.[2]
According to a KHNP representative quoted by Novinky, a new partner for the construction work is to be selected by July 2027. Preparatory work at the site is to begin in January 2028, main construction work in November 2029, and the first reactor is to be put into trial operation in 2036.[2] KHNP signed the main contract with the investor, the company Elektrárna Dukovany II, in June 2025. Its value is 407 billion koruna excluding VAT.[2]
Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček (ANO) told the Czech News Agency that, according to assurances from the Korean minister, neither the construction nor its schedule is at risk. According to Havlíček, KHNP is ready to negotiate with other construction suppliers as well, and there is no shortage of interested large firms. He added that Czechia is leaving the matter to the Korean side, which is the guarantor of the overall delivery.[1]
The end of the talks does not affect other contracts. Doosan Enerbility has separate contracts with KHNP for the supply of the nuclear steam supply system and a turbogenerator, and its subsidiary Doosan Škoda Power from Plzeň is to supply the turbine and turbine hall equipment. KHNP has also concluded a contract for design and engineering work with Kepco Engineering & Construction. Talks on nuclear fuel supplies with Kepco Nuclear Fuel and on commissioning and maintenance of the plant with Kepco KPS continue, and their conclusion is expected in 2027.[1][2]
The shares of both firms fell in reaction to the news. According to Novinky, Daewoo E&C shares fell by more than 21 percent on the morning of Thursday 29 October and Doosan Enerbility shares by more than 11 percent.[2]
Chronology
- — South Korean company KHNP ended without agreement its negotiations with a consortium of Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Doosan Enerbility on a contract for construction works on the project of new nuclear units in Dukovany. Novinky.cz ČTK / České noviny
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 29 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 29 October 2026