The new nuclear blocks will provide us with the most expensive electricity in Europe – A2larm

Czech society is a fan of nuclear energy and practically no one opposes the construction of new nuclear blocks, except for a few voices. For so long there was a debate about the construction of one or two new nuclear units, until suddenly there are four units, at a price that will quite possibly exceed the budget of the Czech Republic and which people will be paying for somewhere beyond the horizon of 2080.

The European Commission’s decision on the possible financing of nuclear blocks was accepted in the Czech Republic as our victory, but on closer inspection it resembles a disaster. The financing system is based on the Czech Republic lending to ČEZ or guaranteeing a loan for the construction with a maturity of thirty years from the start of operation. At the same time, our country undertakes to purchase electricity for forty years at a predetermined price. The third point says that if anything unexpected happens, the state is again responsible for it, that is us.

This is presented as a win by the government, which claims to be fiscally responsible. It plans to buy at a predetermined price sometime between 2040 and 2080, regardless of how much electricity is produced in Europe at that time.

At the same time, the Czech Republic already belongs to the countries with the most expensive electricity in Europe – albeit for other reasons. There are many reasons why electricity from new blocks is and will be extraordinarily expensive, but the main reason is simple. Building a new nuclear unit has been extremely expensive in recent years, it takes a long time, and the experience of recent years in Europe is dismal. In Finland, the French built the Olkiluoto power plant fourteen years longer and exceeded the budget four times.

So that the resulting electricity would not be so expensive for the Czech Republic, the state wanted to guarantee the price for sixty years and to say goodbye to the installments for the nuclear blocks over time. However, the European Commission shortened this framework to forty years, which means a higher price of electricity. At the same time, a similar repayment system will be adapted as in Great Britain in the case of the Hinkley point C power plant, which is a British nightmare, which is also being built by the French EDF, the current favorite for nuclear blocks in our country. Britain has made it known that it will never build and finance a nuclear power plant in this way, because it is extremely expensive and disadvantageous for the citizens who have to pay for it. Fortunately, the Czechs are much richer than the British, so they don’t have to worry about it.

A British nightmare

In Britain, after about a decade of various delays, the project got underway in 2016. At the same time, according to the original promises of the EDF management, the British were already supposed to roast a turkey with electricity from this power plant in 2017. When construction began, the plant was expected to cost £18 billion and be operational in 2025. Since then, there have been many updates to the price and timelines. At the moment they are talking about 2031 and the estimated price, however calculated according to the original prices of 2015, is 31 to 34 billion pounds, which is almost double. However, the real price is much higher: up to £46 billion for both units according to EDF’s annual report. That is roughly 700 billion crowns for one block. The price per megawatt-hour is estimated to be around £130, which is roughly twice what electricity is normally bought for in Britain. British citizens will pay the difference in price for 35 years. This is what the plan looks like for the Czech Republic.

If the Czech Republic embarks on this, it can be calculated that the nuclear unit could be in operation in 2040 or later at the earliest. At the moment, we are therefore betting that in some 16 years the energy market will look similar to what it is today, and this situation will last for the next forty years, when it will be expensive to buy electricity at a fixed price. As if the entire energy sector is not undergoing a massive transformation.

At the same time, we don’t want just one block, but even four, when Petr Fiala and Pavel Blažek threw in an extra one to heat the hot water for Brno, which surprisingly is not a joke. The total cost of the construction will easily exceed the budget of the Czech Republic, which otherwise searches in vain for units of billions, for example, for the salaries of school cooks. So we know with certainty that at least by 2080 there will be no more money for anything. The Czech Republic has bet everything on technology, which alone must be paid for and guaranteed by the state. All other existing energy sources are willing to be paid for, built, operated and insured by someone else.

It is certainly possible that our nuclear blocks will not be lost in the European network. The question is whether it is really necessary for Czech citizens to pay them. Is there simply no possibility that we could not use the hundreds of billions better for the prosperity and future of the country?