Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC, the U.S. nuclear builder owned by Toshiba Corp., offered the Czech government help with financing the future expansion of nuclear power stations.

The company contacted Czech ministries of finance and industry with the offer, Westinghouse Czech unit director Pavel Janik said in a telephone interview today. They haven't entered into any negotiations, he said.

The government is drafting a long-term national energy strategy which is supposed to be ready by the end of the year. Although CEZ AS, the state-controlled utility, canceled a tender for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Temelin power station earlier this year, government representatives have said they expect nuclear energy to play a significant role in the strategy.

"We believe that our offer will be interesting to the Czech government," Janik said. "I'm sure they'll welcome it."

Westinghouse bid against Russian company Rosatom Corp. for the $15 billion Temelin project, which was canceled in April after the government refused to provide CEZ guarantees on the purchase power price. Third bidder, France's Areva SA, was excluded from the tender in 2012.

Westinghouse is using similar financing models in Bulgaria's Kozloduy plant as well as in the U.K., Janik said. Rosatom had previously said it would be able to finance up to 100 percent of the Temelin project.

"New Czech nuclear reactors may be needed later than had originally been planned because demand is growing slowly and the lifespan of coal-fired plants is being extended," Erste Group Bank AG analyst Petr Bartek said in a note.