The Czech Industry and Trade Ministry has put off the decision on building new nuclear power plants and needs more time to evaluate the projects' impact on the domestic budget. Besides, the state-run power utility CEZ will not invest into them without additional financial support from the European Union (EU) or the state. The decision to go ahead is likely to be taken by the end of the year, which is six months later than the original deadline that had already been postponed. If built, the new units would replace existing ones expected to be closed in the future.
Under the new energy strategy of the Czech Republic (2015), nuclear should be the main source of electricity by 2040, accounting for 46% to 58% of the power mix. Up to 2 500 MW could be added by 2035 and more thereafter, including a new reactor at Dukovany and up to three new reactors at Dukovany and Temelin. However, the government has rejected any state guarantee on electricity prices and has been working on three options: splitting CEZ into a state-owned company to carry out nuclear projects and operate coal-fired power plants on the one hand and a partly private company for renewables and regulated activities; creating a CEZ subsidiary for building new nuclear plants with some form of state backing; buying a small CEZ unit to build the plants.