ČEZ submits EIA for 470 MWe Rolls-Royce SMR at Temelín
The 20% ČEZ stake in Rolls-Royce SMR dates from October 2024, when the two agreed up to 3 GW of Czech deployment.
Key facts
- EIA process expected to be completed by end of 2027, with public comments taken by the ministry
- Design provides baseload for at least 60 years; 90% built in factory conditions
- Temelín site already hosts two gigawatt-scale VVER-1000 units
- Temelín target operational date in the second half of the 2030s, per ČEZ
- Wylfa in North Wales to host three Rolls-Royce SMR units; final investment decision expected in 2029
ČEZ has submitted Environmental Impact Assessment documentation to the Czech Ministry of the Environment for a small modular reactor at its Temelín site, a 470 MWe Rolls-Royce SMR design.
The ministry will assess the documentation and take public comments. The EIA process is expected to be completed by the end of 2027. The design is a small pressurised water reactor intended to provide baseload generation for at least 60 years.
ČEZ said water availability is one of the basic criteria when selecting and preparing SMR sites, and that surveys and long-term monitoring so far confirm it does not represent an obstacle, including when taking into account worsening drought.
ČEZ took a 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR
Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by ČEZ in October 2024 to deploy up to 3 GW of electricity in the Czech Republic, and ČEZ took a 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR. Temelín already has two gigawatt-scale VVER-1000 units. Further projects are being developed for coal-fired power plant sites, including Tušimice.
The EIA follows the signing of Early Works Contracts between Rolls-Royce SMR and ČEZ covering site preparation and work to secure the permits required for construction at Temelín. It also builds on a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year between Rolls-Royce SMR, ČEZ and the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade that enabled site preparation for further deployments at Tušimice and Dětmarovice.
Wylfa could host up to eight SMRs
Ninety percent of the SMR, which measures about 16 metres by 4 metres, will be built in factory conditions, limiting on-site activity primarily to assembly of pre-fabricated, pre-tested modules.
In June 2025, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as the UK government's preferred technology for the country's first SMR project. In November 2025, the government announced that Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, North Wales, would host three Rolls-Royce SMR units. It said the site, where a Magnox plant is being decommissioned, could potentially host up to eight SMRs. A final investment decision is expected to be taken in 2029.
The UK project is expected to be the first Rolls-Royce SMR deployed, with Temelín to host the second, with a target operational date in the second half of the 2030s.