ČEZ unit ŠKODA JS wins Rolls-Royce SMR control rod drive contract
The Czech supplier must develop an SMR prototype before global deliveries; the current award's price and shipment date were not released.
Ines Halvorsen
A Sept. 23 contract for control rod drives in a 1,358-megawatt thermal reactor went to ŠKODA JS, a unit of ČEZ, a. s. WSECEZ, Rolls-Royce SMR said. ŠKODA JS chief executive Karel Bednář put possible future recurring orders at more than CZK 1 billion per reactor, although the release gave no price for the current design and supply award. The counterparty is privately held Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd.; the release gave no first delivery date or term for the present order.
Control rod drive mechanisms regulate reactor output and enable rapid shutdown, the developer said. ŠKODA JS will deliver them from its Pilsen facilities, but the announcement specifies neither a quantity nor a shipment schedule. The award covers design and supply, while the described global production arrangement still requires a future contract.
ČEZ's 2026 half-year report recorded ŠKODA JS's selection in May as one of two strategic suppliers for selected nuclear-island components. The report said ŠKODA JS may supply a reactor set, including pressure vessels; it did not record a reactor-set order. The Sept. 23 control rod award adds a different component to the Czech supplier's role, but its published terms give no price.
ČEZ completed an approximately 20 per cent stake in Rolls-Royce SMR in July 2025, its half-year report says. That leaves the Czech power group with an ownership interest in the reactor developer as well as the supplier receiving the award. ČEZ targets completion of the first Temelín unit in the mid-2030s.
A Prototype Must Precede Global Supply
Bednář said the current contract includes preparations for mass production at ŠKODA JS. It also sets out terms for a future global supply agreement. ČEZ chief executive Daniel Beneš, quoted in the developer's Sept. 23 release, said ŠKODA JS must develop a prototype for small reactors before it can supply control systems worldwide. Neither executive gave a date for the prototype or the later agreement.
“For us, this represents recurring orders worth more than one billion crowns for each SMR in the future,” ŠKODA JS chief executive Karel Bednář said in the Sept. 23 release.
The billion-crown figure is Bednář's estimate of repeat orders per reactor, not the stated value of the contract awarded in September. Until a production agreement is signed, the number of drives to be built for any reactor fleet also remains unspecified.
Rolls-Royce SMR says its supply chain is being assembled for sites in Czechia, Britain and Sweden. It identifies Temelín as the Czech deployment site and Tušimice and Dětmarovice as potential further locations. The control rod announcement gives no delivery allocation among those countries, leaving the Pilsen factory's production timetable open.
ČEZ said an April 2026 early works contract with Rolls-Royce SMR enabled licensing and permitting documentation for Temelín. Its July 2025 amendment also covered site facilities, according to the company's half-year reports. The control rod release gives no equipment lead time or delivery deadline tied to those preparations.
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The prototype and future global supply agreement have no published dates. ČEZ's next dated target for the programme is completion of the first Temelín unit in the mid-2030s, according to its 2025 half-year report.
