The British engineering giant revealed in October that CEZ, the Czech state energy company, had placed the first order for its small modular reactors (SMRs) and was taking a minority stake in the venture as well.
It was hailed as a landmark deal that would see the Czech Republic benefit from being part of the technology’s supply chain.
But according to local media reports, Rolls and CEZ are in disagreement about where to source key components from.
CEZ has reportedly been pushing for its subsidiary Skoda JS – a former part of the Skoda Works empire that is now separate to the car company of the same name – to be awarded the contract to manufacture reactor pressure vessels, according to Czech newspaper Ekonomicky denik.
However, the report claimed that Rolls is pushing for Doosan, in South Korea, to be given the work instead because it can do a better job for a lower price.
When everything was about government contracts and planning permissions and statecraft then deals on less than commercial terms made sense.
When you’re trying to make a plug and play mass manufacture they don’t.
Simple enough principle…..
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