Dukovany Nuclear Power Station in the Czech Republic. / Yonhap

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Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), South Korea’s state-run utility company, has decided to withdraw from the Netherlands' new nuclear power plant construction project. KHNP had previously abandoned bids for nuclear power plant projects in Sweden and Slovenia, signaling a broader strategic retreat from the European market.

KHNP will not conduct a second phase technical feasibility study for the Dutch nuclear power plant project, according to sources on March 19. With KHNP’s withdrawal, the competition for the contract has narrowed to a race between U.S.-based Westinghouse and France’s EDF. The Netherlands has one operational nuclear power plant in Borssele, Zeeland, and plans to build two new reactors by 2035.

KHNP initially showed strong interest in the project. In 2023, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on nuclear power cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The company participated in the first phase of the technical feasibility study last year, in a move to take part in the bidding process.

But KHNP chose not to participate in the second feasibility study to “focus on the Czech nuclear power plant deal and the small modular reactor (SMR) business.” The company is expected to finalize negotiations with EDU II, a subsidiary of the Czech utility company CEZ this month. The main contract is likely to be signed next month.

KHNP’s retreat from the Netherlands follows a similar decision to withdraw from a nuclear project in Sweden late last year. Initially, the company had aimed to expand into the European nuclear power market, starting with the Czech Republic, but analysts suggest that KHNP has given up the market entirely. Some speculate that KHNP may have ceded its European ambitions to Westinghouse as part of an intellectual property rights agreement between the two companies. Coincidentally, KHNP pulled out of nuclear projects in three European countries right before and after it resolved an intellectual property rights dispute with Westinghouse in January.

KHNP has declined to disclose details of its agreement with Westinghouse. “Even if Westinghouse secures nuclear deals in other countries, it will still need assistance from KHNP and KEPCO with construction,” said an industry insider. “Since cooperation is necessary, they seem to have worked out a role-sharing arrangement.”

[Lee Inah]

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