Westinghouse reportedly leads in Temelín tender, ČEZ denies it

Prague, March 3 (CTK) - US-Japanese company Westinghouse preliminarily leads in the tender for the construction of two more units at nuclear plant Temelin, server Ceska pozice wrote on Saturday but power company CEZ denied the information for CTK after its release.

The preliminary evaluation of the bids of Westinghouse and Czech-Russian Consortium MIR.1200 has not yet been completed, CEZ said.

The server refers to an undisclosed source with the information that in the preliminary evaluation, Westinghouse has beaten the Czech-Russian consortium.

French firm Areva is not in the evaluation process at all, CEZ eliminated it from the tender last year in October already, the server adds. Areva has turned to antitrust office UOHS in the effort to return to the tender.

"The preliminary evaluation of the bidders in the tender for the construction of two new units in nuclear plant Temlein has not yet been closed and therefore any news about an interim ranking is pure speculation," CEZ spokeswoman Barbora Pulpanova reacted to the server's information.

The preliminary evaluation of the bids does not mean any definitive decision on the tender's final winner. The winner is to be picked in September. In the coming period, CEZ wants to hold talks with the bidders about potential improvement of their offers.

The construction of the third and fourth units of Temelin is estimated to cost between Kc200bn and Kc300bn. It should more than double the output of Temelin.

The new units should be put into operation in 2025 and they are to produce electricity for sixty years.