Poland Signs International Deals For Its First Nuclear Power Plants

During the last few days, Poland signed international agreements to build the country’s first nuclear power plants by 2033.

The US-based Westinghouse Electric Company (ENS Corporate Member) and the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power have been selected to develop the Polish nuclear programme, so accelerating Warsaw’s efforts towards energy security and decarbonisation.

Indeed, Poland is looking at nuclear power as part of its energy transition strategy by 2040, largely to replace coal-fired generation, which provides about 80% of the country’s electricity today.

Under a 2020 nuclear programme, Poland has ambitious plans to build from 6,000 to 9,000 MW of installed nuclear capacity based on Generation III and III+ large-scale, pressurised water reactor (PWR) designs.

Commercial operation of a first nuclear unit in a proposed set of six is planned for 2033, with the rest to follow throughout the 2030s and into the early 2040s.

Last January, Westinghouse Electric Company already signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with ten companies in Poland. The MOUs cover cooperation on the potential deployment of six AP1000 plants for the Polish Nuclear Power Plant programme and other potential AP1000 reactor projects in Central and Eastern Europe.

Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has then announced last Friday that Westinghouse Electric Company has been selected to build the country’s first nuclear power station, deploying the AP1000 reactor design.

This week, Polish energy companies ZE PAK and PGE (Polska Grupa Energetyczna) and the Polish Ministry of State Assets also signed a letter of intent with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) on the proposed construction of a nuclear power station at the central Patnow site.

According to the companies’ statements, the aim of the agreement is to assess the available options and to develop by 2022 preliminary plans for the deployment of KHNP’s APR-1400 pressurised water reactor (PWR) technology at Patnow, which currently houses a 1,674-MW coal-fired plant owned by private firm ZE PAK.

Follow the latest updates on the Polish nuclear programme on NucNet.