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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant is now set to begin after the European Commission approved Warsaw’s request to allocate 60 billion zloty (€14.2 billion) in state aid for the project.
The decision, which had been widely expected, was welcomed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who told a cabinet meeting that it means “construction will be able to start immediately”, as early as this month.
The 🇪🇺 Commission approves State aid for the construction and operation of Poland's 🇵🇱 first nuclear power plant ✅
For more information 👇
🔗https://t.co/ZoJnFskpUp pic.twitter.com/GmJlDWQrOA
— EU Competition (@EU_Competition) December 9, 2025
The nuclear power station, which will have a capacity of up to 3.75 gigawatts (GW), is to be built on Poland’s northern Baltic Sea coast. It is expected to start operating in the second half of the 2030s.
Although EU member states are free to decide on the composition of their energy mix, state aid must be approved by the European Commission, which assesses whether it is necessary, proportionate, and does not unduly distort market conditions.
Announcing its decision today, the European Commission said that Poland had demonstrated measures to meet these requirements, including shortening the period of direct price support from 60 to 40 years and ensuring that any profits beyond what is necessary to achieve a market rate are shared with the state.
The commission also noted that the nuclear project “plays a central role in Poland’s strategy to decarbonise electricity production”. Currently, over half of Poland’s electricity is generated from coal, the highest proportion in the EU, but Warsaw is seeking to shift towards nuclear and renewables.
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The 60 billion zloty, to be spent on the project between 2025 and 2030, will cover about 30% of its total estimated costs, with the remainder to be financed through borrowing from financial institutions, mainly foreign. State guarantees will also cover 100% of the debt taken on to finance the project.
Among the entities that have already pledged financing are the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Polish state firm Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) is tasked with building the plant, working alongside a consortium made up of the US firms Westinghouse, which is providing the technology, and Bechtel, which is the construction contractor.
PEJ’s CEO, Marek Woszczyk, welcomed the commission’s decision, saying that it now “paves the way for the signing of a contract for the construction of the power plant with the American consortium”.
Poland has signed an agreement with a US consortium of Westinghouse and Bechtel to continue developing the country's first nuclear power plant
This is "the beginning of long-term cooperation in the field of nuclear energy", says US Energy @SecretaryWright https://t.co/f3a3Sqouub
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 28, 2025
Woszczyk noted that the state support for the project is “one of the largest, if not the largest, individual aid packages in the history of the EU”.
The expenditure was originally approved by Tusk’s government in September last year, adopted by parliament in February, and signed into law by then-President Andrzej Duda in March.
Nuclear energy enjoys broad public support in Poland, with polls showing backing ranging from 64% to 92.5%. It is also an issue on which there is rare consensus across Poland’s otherwise highly polarised political spectrum.
A bill providing 60bn zloty (€14.4bn) in financing for Poland’s first nuclear power plant, which is being developed with US firm Westinghouse, has been signed into law
Warsaw is still awaiting EU approval for the state aid it wants to give to the project https://t.co/DAd8X5UITA
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 26, 2025
Work towards the plant has taken place both under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government and Tusk’s current ruling coalition. Under the government’s Polish Nuclear Power Programme (PPEJ), a second nuclear plant is also planned. The total combined capacity of the two plants will be between 6 and 9 GW.
Last year, nearly 57% of Poland’s power was generated by coal, by far the highest share in Europe. In 2023, the former PiS government outlined plans for 51% of electricity to come from renewables and 23% from nuclear by 2040.
The Tusk government has pledged to continue and even accelerate that energy transition, though it has so far made limited progress.
Polish coal is costly and polluting. But its powerful symbolism has kept the country and its politicians hooked on the "black gold".@AlicjaPtak4 explores coal’s past, present and future in Poland https://t.co/E6IhQ64aGC
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 14, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: PEJ press materials
Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.
