(Bloomberg) -- Czech power utility CEZ AS selected Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc as a potential supplier of small modular reactors as the central European country bets on nuclear energy to move away from fossil fuels.
CEZ plans to enter a strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce with a view to building an SMR in the first half of the 2030s, according to a statement from the Industry and Trade Ministry.
A landlocked country with limited options for wind and solar energy, the Czech Republic is betting on nuclear power as a way to phase out coal and meet climate targets. Modular reactors can largely be built in factories and shipped in standardized parts for assembly on-site, meaning shorter construction times.
In July, the government picked Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. as the preferred supplier of at least two large reactors to start replacing CEZ’s aging fleet of Soviet-era atomic plants. Nuclear accounts for about a third of the country’s electricity, but the project with Rolls-Royce would be its first SMR.
The ministry gave no cost estimate on Thursday.
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