French energy minister visits Prague to promote nuclear cooperation

French Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher will be in Prague on Monday and Tuesday to make progress on Franco-Czech nuclear cooperation, particularly on the construction of new reactors.

Czechia, whose six nuclear reactors accounted for 37% of the country’s electricity production in 2022, is considering expanding its fleet. The government has already given the go-ahead for developing a new 1,200-megawatt pressurised water reactor (PWR) and is eyeing to greenlight the construction of three more.

At the end of October, the Czech government selected bids from US nuclear power companies Westinghouse, South Korea’s KHNP, and France’s state-owned EDF.

To defend her country’s bid, France’s Pannier-Runacher visited Prague on Monday, together with EDF CEO Luc Rémont, whom the ministry said also met with French and Czech industrialists in the sector to “take stock of EPR construction projects in the Czech Republic”.

However, the three bids are currently being examined before “potentially a second examination phase for the other reactors”, Pannier-Runacher’s office added. The contract for the first reactor is expected to be signed in 2024, with construction starting in 2029 and possible first tests in 2036.

During her visit on Tuesday, Pannier-Runnacher will also attend the signing of a research agreement between the French National Research Agency (ANR) and the Czech Technology Agency (TACR), which could provide funding for joint projects in the field of nuclear energy.

Alliance for 2040

For Czechia, France is a key partner not only about the possible supply of nuclear technologies but also in terms of the future of nuclear energy in the EU – a matter Pannier-Runacher is set to further discuss with her Czech counterpart, Jozef Sikela.

The two ministers are also to discuss “take stock of our vision for the next European Commission in terms of energy,” Pannier-Runacher said on Franceinfo on Monday morning, noting that talks will focus on 2040 objectives, which the European Commission is due to present on 6 February.

France and the Czech Republic are members of the “nuclear alliance”, whose members proposed that the EU’s renewable energy targets should rather be termed low-carbon targets or “fossil fuel exit targets”, the French minister’s office explained.

“We are relying heavily on Belgium,” which holds the EU presidency until 30 June, the French minister’s office added, referring to the alliance’s continued push for greater “technological neutrality”, particularly to treat renewables and nuclear energy alike in EU energy policy.

Pannier-Runacher’s office also pointed out that the nuclear alliance, which Belgium regularly observes, now comprises 14 states and can form “a very strong blocking minority” in Brussels on some EU legislation.

As Euractiv.cz learned, Czech and French ministers will also agree on Tuesday on the need to develop appropriate financial instruments to implement new nuclear projects in the EU and on the need to ensure competitive prices for electricity from nuclear power plants.

Czechia also welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to create a new bloc-wide “Industrial Alliance” dedicated to developing and deploying small modular reactors.

(Paul Messad | Euractiv.fr, with contribution from Aneta Zachová, Euractiv.cz)