Construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant to begin in 2026

Poland’s climate minister has announced that Poland will start building its first nuclear power plant in 2026, with a capacity of 1.0-1.5 gigawatts. The facility is expected to come online by 2033.

The Polish government has been looking for ways to wean the country off coal, which currently accounts for almost 80% of energy production, the highest level in the European Union.

Current plans see that share falling to around 60% by 2030, while carbon emissions are meant to be cut by 30% over the next decade, relative to 1990 levels.

As part of this transition, the government intends to have six operational nuclear blocks by 2040. This would bring nuclear capacity to 6-9 gigawatts by 2043, accounting for a tenth of the country’s power generation, reports Reuters.

The first of these power plants is due to begin construction in 2026 and begin operation in 2033, said Poland’s climate minister, Michal Kurtyka, during a call with the head of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) on Friday, according the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Kurtyka said that nuclear power will not only “accelerate carbon emissions reduction”, but also help Poland to ensure energy security by reducing reliance on hydrocarbon imports, which include notable amounts of Russian coal and gas.

Kurtyka underlined the importance of financing. “We have to be sure that we have the financial foundations that will ensure that [our] nuclear energy will be competitive,” he said, according to PAP. The reactors for the planned final nuclear capacity of 6–9 GW are expected to cost over 100 billion zloty (€22.5 billion)

“We are very close to deciding on what nuclear energy will look like” in Poland, Jacek Sasin, the minister for state assets, told RMF FM on Tuesday. He explained that the government is in the “process of preparation” and “choosing a concept, subcontractor, and financing model”.

The draft of the energy strategy will now be put forward for consultations with the government, and is expected to be adopted next year, reports Reuters.

Poland has long considered building nuclear power plants, but the decision has been put off many times. The Polish Nuclear Energy Program (PPEJ), announced in January 2014, had previously assumed that the first nuclear reactor would go online in 2024.

A year later, the key investor, PGE, announced that the first reactor would only begin working in 2029, reports Money.pl.

Meanwhile last year, Poland’s richest man, Michał Sołowow, announced plans to build Poland’s first nuclear reactor ahead of the government. In October, Sołowow said he would be teaming up with US-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) to construct a small reactor to power his chemicals plant near Oświęcim in southern Poland.

“Nuclear energy is the only rational alternative to produce cheap energy in an ecological and safe way, at a price comparable to coal,” said Sołowow at the time.

Initial plans would have the reactor completed by 2027, making the private reactor Poland’s first nuclear site. However, the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology, which the chemicals company Synthos is eyeing, has not yet been commercialised.

Maria Wilczek

Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.