Former US ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher – a Trump appointee who left Warsaw in January ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration – has been appointed to the board of an American firm that will be the main advisor on the development of the country’s first nuclear plant.
Yesterday it was announced that IP3 Corporation had reached an agreement with ZE PAK, a Polish energy producer, to help it develop nuclear energy, reports Business Insider Polska. At the same time, it was revealed that Mosbacher had been appointed to IP3’s board, with responsibility for its projects in Poland.
“Nuclear projects, regardless of whether they are planned in Poland or abroad, must deal with complicated regulatory matters and political conditions,” said Solorz in explaining the decision to work with IP3, reports TVP Info.
The US firm will assist in obtaining approvals for the project from relevant authorities in Poland and the US, as well as supervisory and regulatory bodies in countries that will be the suppliers of the technology. IP3 will also help draft financial and implementation plans for the endeavour.
“Nuclear technologies are a key element that can provide Poland and other countries of the Three Seas group with a sufficient amount of clean energy,” said Mosbacher. “Poland’s long-term energy security requires the presence of the private sector in this area, as well as a plan to support innovation in the field of nuclear systems.”
The Polish-led Three Seas Initiative promotes regional integration across Central and Eastern Europe. It received backing from the Trump administration.
Poland’s government has also been looking for ways to wean the country off coal, which accounts for around 70% of electricity production, the highest level in the EU. Current plans see that share falling to under 60% by 2030, and potentially as low as 11% by 2040.
Part of that process has been the development of a state nuclear energy plan, according to which the first reactor is due to go online by 2033, with five more to follow by 2043. The government will need to make a final call on international partners by the end of next year.
Solorz and Michał Sołowow’s nuclear project is expected to be completed by 2027, six years before the government’s first units are due to go online. Their companies will be working with US-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to set up a set of BWRX-300 small modular reactors.
Sołowow and Solorz plan on having between four and six reactors with a capacity of 300 MW each. Their location in Pątnów would be based around ZE PAK, a complex of power plants fired with lignite coal and biomass that is owned by Solorz.
They see the plans as a necessary step in Poland’s move away from its reliance on coal and towards lower-emission forms of energy. “We need cheap and clean energy to be able to develop as a state and society,” said Solorz.
Main image credit: Gabriel Piętka/MSZ (under CC BY-NC 2.0)
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.
