COUNTRY PAVILLIONS | WNE2025 Poland: On the road to nuclear power
Yet to develop a nuclear generation portfolio, Poland is nonetheless set to become a fully- fledged member of the nuclear club with a series of reactors both large and small
This image: Polish state-owned company Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ) is preparing to construct three AP1000 units at a site in Pomerania.
While more than 55% of Poland’s electricity comes from coal, its ambitions to develop its first nuclear capacity are now well advanced. Under its current plans, Poland aims to have nuclear power from about 2036. Polish state-owned company Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ) is preparing to construct three nuclear power plants using AP1000 units each with a capacity of 1250 MWe. The nuclear power plant will be built at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality, in Pomerania. The Polish Nuclear Power Programme (Program Polskiej Energetyki Jądrowej) envisages construction of two plants with a total capacity of 6-9 GWe based on large Generation III(+) pressurised water reactors (PWRs). According to the draft update of the Program, commercial operation of the first unit is to begin in 2036, followed by the next two units in 2037 and 2038. This represents a three-year delay compared with the previous plan released in 2020. In a recent development, PEJ was issued a permit by the
Pomeranian local governor for preparatory work related to the construction of the country’s for NPP with work scheduled to start this autumn. The permit applies to the first stage of activities on the 330 hectare site and covers the demarcation of the area, as well as development and levelling of the area, PEJ said in a statement. Over the last year and a half, PEJ has been conducting a
broad environmental and research campaign and, in parallel, is working to obtain further administrative permits, including from the National Atomic Energy Agency and building permits. The company plans to submit an application for a plant construction permit in 2027. The contractor will be a Westinghouse- Bechtel consortium after the Polish government selected the
AP1000 reactor in November 2022. PEJ signed an Engineering Development Agreement (EDA) in April. This was followed in September 2023 when Westinghouse and Bechtel signed an agreement to finalise a site-specific design for the plant. Meanwhile, in August, Poland’s largest state-controlled power utility, Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) announced that preliminary work had been completed to investigate the possibility of building Poland’s second nuclear power plant in the Bełchatów region, one of two preferred locations, the alternative site for the second plant is Konin. Alongside the large reactor programme, in September
Poland’s Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) joint venture made an agreement to develop the country’s first GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR). The plan envisages at least two SMR units of 300 MWe each. In December 2023, the Ministry of Climate and Environment issued decisions-in- principle for the implementation of investments in six locations: Włocławek, Ostrołęka, Stawy Monowskie, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Kraków – Nowa Huta and Stalowa Wola – Tarnobrzeg. In February this year, the General Director for Environmental Protection issued the first decision in Poland specifying the scope of the environmental report for the project in Stawy Monowskie. This enabled OSGE to begin environmental and siting research. SGE previously signed a letter of intent with GE Hitachi
Nuclear Energy with the aim of setting up at least 10 BWRX-300 reactors in Poland by 2030. In July, OSGE and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) signed a letter of intent for services to support deployment of SMRs in Poland. The first BWRX-300 unit is being built for OPG at Canada’s Darlington plant, scheduled for completion in 2028. It is the reference project for OSGE.
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