Czech power company ČEZ has decided to reorganise its Nuclear Division as a separate entity. CEZ’s Generation Division will become the Conventional Energy Division. The new Nuclear Energy Division will be headed by Bogdan Zronek, the director of the Temelin NPP.
The reorganisation will take effect on 1 June. It is required to comply with the new law on nuclear energy and other regulations, as well as to further enhance NPP safety.
The State Programme on Energy Policy, developed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and approved by the government in June 2015, provides for the construction of at least one new unit at the Dukovany NPP, as well as up to three more units at the Dukovany and Temelin sites. The Ministry had recommended that ČEZ should create a subsidiary company to prepare construction plans and explore options for financing the new reactors, the first of which may not be approved until 2025. However, a decision on power pricing from the new plant is expected this year.
Zronek, who was also appointed to the CEZ Board of Directors, said: "Nuclear energy is a very specific industry and therefore highly regulated. Creating a separate division, in my opinion, is a logical step in response to the new legislation. Our goal is to simplify management, and analyse the relationships between our existing and potential new divisions ". Jan Kruml, the current chief engineer at Temelin, will take over as plant director from 1 September to replace Zronek. The present head of the Generation Division, Ladislav Štěpánek, will lead the Conventional Energy Division.
As well as operating four nuclear power units at Dukovany and two at Temelin with a total installed capacity of 3,924MWe, CEZ also administers 11 coal-fired power plants in the Czech Republic, three coal plants abroad, 35 hydropower plants, including three pumping stations, two wind plants, and 12, solar power and biogas station. In addition to the production and sale of electricity, the ČEZ Group operates in the field of telecommunications, informatics, nuclear research, planning, construction and maintenance of energy facilities, and mining of raw materials. The share of nuclear power currently accounts for 32.5% of electricity generation and is planned to increase to 46-58% by 2040