S. Korea’s KHNP signs final nuclear plant contract with Czech Republic after court injunction lifted

South Korea’s state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) said Wednesday it signed a final contract to build nuclear reactors at a power plant in the Czech Republic, following the lifting of a court injunction that had blocked the deal.

The KHNP and Czech’s state-controlled company Elektrarna Dukovany II (EDU II) electronically signed the agreement after the Czech Supreme Administrative Court overturned an injunction that barred the signing of the final contract to build two new nuclear power units in Dukovany nuclear power plant, officials at the Korean company said.

The confirmation came after Reuters reported that Czech Prime Minister Petra Fiala said the two sides signed the final agreement for the estimated 26 trillion-won (US$18.6 billion) deal.

The deal marks South Korea’s first overseas nuclear power plant contract since 2009, when the country secured a deal to build the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier in the day, Czech’s highest court canceled a local court decision to issue an injunction temporarily suspending the finalization of the deal between the Korean consortium, led by KHNP, and EDU II.

The KHNP said it “welcomes the Czech supreme court’s decision to reverse the injunction.”

The Korean company initially planned to sign the final agreement with EDU II on May 7 to build two 1,063-megawatt reactors at the Czech power plant, located about 170 kilometers southeast of Prague, but the French energy company EDF’s injunction request had delayed the deal.

South Korea was selected as the preferred bidder for the project against EDF in July 2024.

But the country faced many hurdles until binding the deal with the legal challenge from the EDF and an intellectual property (IP) dispute with U.S. energy firm Westinghouse Electric Co.

Westinghouse had accused the Korean company of infringing on its IP, claiming the KHNP’s APR 100 and APR1400 plant designs utilize its licensed technology, but the two sides reached a settlement in January, clearing a major hurdle for the KHNP.

The KHNP may have to navigate more barriers as the European Union (EU) was also assessing whether the Korean company had received “foreign financial contributions,” which could lead to the European Commission’s formal investigation into the matter.

The KHNP has dismissed concerns, saying the bidding process for the Czech power plant project was conducted “fairly, transparently and legally” under the supervision of the Prague government.

Despite such complications, the Czech project delivers various opportunities for South Korea.

KHNP holds exclusive negotiating rights for a separate project aimed at building two additional reactors at the Temelin power plant, located about 100 kilometers south of Prague, for the next five years.

Seoul and Prague also signed 14 agreements and memorandums of understanding to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy, construction and infrastructure sectors as well as science technology.