Czech Republic: AREVA signs a series of major cooperation agreements with key Czech companies

AREVA signed today a series of cooperation agreements with key Czech companies as part of its pluri-regional localization strategy in support of ongoing and potential EPR™ projects, including Temelin 3 and 4 in Czech Republic. All of the companies signing today have been pre-qualified through AREVA’s rigorous certification process for new suppliers.

The official signature ceremony was held in the French Embassy in Prague in the presence of the Ambassador of France to the Czech Republic, Pierre Lévy; AREVA’s Chief Commercial Officer, Ruben Lazo; AREVA’s Corporate Production Purchasing Deputy Vice President, Valéry Lefevre; and the President of AREVA Česka Republika, Thomas Epron, all of whom were gathered around the CEOs of the signing Czech companies (ABB s.r.o, ABEGU, Arako spol s.r.o, BAEST Machines and Structures a.s, EXCON Steel a.s, I&C Energo a.s, Kralovopolska RIA a.s, Mandik a.s, Metra Blansko a.s, Modrany Power a.s, Schneider Electric CZ s.r.o., Sigma Group a.s, Vitkovice Machinery group , ZVVZ enven Engineering).

"AREVA has the full support of the French authorities. I'm happy to take part in this great day. This very concrete achievement is a significant step for the Franco-Czech nuclear energy cooperation," said Lévy.

Today’s series of agreements marks a further step into AREVA’s long-lasting collaboration with the Czech industry and signals the group’s real and strong commitment to the continuous development of its European and international supply chain to ensure competitive, on-time and on-budget delivery of new-build projects worldwide.

“AREVA has demonstrated that we are deeply committed to utilizing the industrial and nuclear expertise that already exists in Czech Republic,” said Lazo. “Experienced Czech suppliers are becoming key links in AREVA’s global supply chain. AREVA recently awarded a contract worth more than half a billion Czech crowns to TS Plzen for the supply of key equipment and several suppliers are already working on our projects in Finland, China and France. These facts illustrate our true and continuous commitment to the industry in the country, and demonstrate our strong willingness to participate to the construction of Temelin 3 and 4 along with our Czech partners.”

Having implemented a proactive procurement program in Czech Republic for several years, AREVA has been working with a number of Czech companies on its new-build and industrial projects worldwide. In the last three years, AREVA has provided more than 1 billion Czech crowns’ worth of contracts in equipment and services, becoming an important contributor to nuclear industry in the country.

“Our pluri-regional localization strategy is the same wherever we build whether it is for nuclear or renewable projects,” said Epron. “AREVA already brings bankable prospects and commercial opportunities to the Czech industries also for projects abroad. In Temelin we anticipate that a very significant part of the works of the new-build project will be open to procurement by Czech companies.”

Signing with such a key group of companies is a demonstration of the Czech industry’s enthusiasm toward AREVA and the mutual recognition of excellence and quality. Cooperation agreements that are also seen by suppliers as an opportunity to develop their activity and access new markets.

“Signing a cooperation agreement with such an important player as AREVA is a new impulse for further development. It will allow us to adopt technologies we have not worked with so far and expand to new regions”, said Martin Pecina, CEO of Vitkovice Machinery Group.

“The opportunity to work with such an important global player on the energy market as AREVA is a very important step in our history. Working together with AREVA, we will be able to gain new experience, get accustomed with different technical solutions not used in the power plants in our region and acquire new customers from new markets”, said Ladislav Krajňák, CEO of MODŘANY Power.

This series of agreements also represents a positive element and a strong differentiator in AREVA’s offer for its EPR™ project in the Czech Republic.

For the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant project, AREVA is preparing to propose to the Czech utility CEZ its advanced EPR™ reactor, which is the reference technology for advanced safety in Europe. The EPR™ design is indeed the only advanced reactor that has already been certified by European Safety Regulators and that is under construction in Europe.