This year Polish Nuclear Power Plants want to obtain 3 key decisions on the NPP in Pomerania and sign a project agreement with America’s Westinghouse. By 2025, PGE (Poland’s biggest power producer – ed.) wants to conduct a study of the location in Pątnów, where a nuclear power plant is to be built using technology from South Korea.
„On 13 April, at the earliest possible time, Polish Nuclear Power Plants (PEJ) submitted an application for a decision-in-principle. This decision will confirm that the investment in the nuclear power plant is in line with the public interest,” said Łukasz Młynarkiewicz acting president of PEJ. According to him, the main purpose of the decision-in-principle is to make the investment process less burdensome. „The decision-in-principle should be binding. This is an administrative decision, it will allow the company to apply for further decisions. PEJ is already working on an application for location decisions. In the very intense variant, we want to have the decision-in-principle, the environmental and location decisions in 2023,” Młynarkiewicz said.
He also mentioned that the environmental procedure of the nuclear project implemented by PEJ in Pomerania is at an advanced stage. „We recently concluded cross-border consultations with the German side. Consultations were conducted in the form of expert and knowledge exchange. We have already concluded consultations with seven neighboring countries. We still need to talk to Austria and Denmark, among others. The discussions with Germany were very substantive. As a company, together with other institutions, we prepared very well, thanks to which we completed the consultations on the first day. We have already established the final protocol, to which none of the parties has any objections,” said Młynarkiewicz.
During the discussion panel, the acting president of the PEJ spoke positively about the experience of the American partner – Westinghouse. PEJ’s preferred model of cooperation is a consortium. „Our colleagues are currently in the United States and there are discussions on the model of cooperation. These talks involve over a dozen rounds of negotiations. We recently had a high-level managerial conversation with Bechtel and Westinghouse. We would like to conclude an agreement on the preferred model of cooperation in May. The consortium agreement will include information related to project and financial responsibility,” Młynarkiewicz explained.
„In the third quarter, in September, we would like to sign a project agreement. The agreement and the implementation period of 18 months, will certainly be a great success in the schedule that we have set for ourselves,” added the President of PEJ. He also mentioned that if the consortium model does not come to fruition, the parties were also considering other forms of cooperation. „The tender option is on the table as well,” Łukasz Młynarkiewicz added.
PEJ also expects the European Commission to notify Westinghouse of its choice as a partner in the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant. „The dialogue with the European Commission is going very well, the other side is understanding of this process: how Poland came to choose the technology provider and there is an understanding of why we want to implement this project in the form of a consortium. We see no signs that the European Commission will not agree to the notification,” Młynarkiewicz mentioned.
During the debate, the panelists also mentioned the financing of the atom. „The model of the revenue support system is still in development. Together with the Climate Ministry we participate in discussions at the level of the European Commission, where the reform of the energy market sector is being prepared. We cannot say that we are closing ourselves off to the model of a contract for difference. We are considering different models of support. The differential contract is still in play,” said Młynarkiewicz. „Some of the information at this stage is confidential, we have an advanced financial model, but it needs to be validated with the market,” he added.
„Ultimately, the idea is to develop a model that will provide a stable low-carbon and low-cost source of energy. The financial model must be bankable,” Młynarkiewicz said. In reference to earlier statements by the president of Westinghouse Polska Mirosław Kowalik, the representative of PEJ also confirmed that his company had submitted an application for obtaining the conditions for connecting the nuclear power plant to the electricity grid.
Lechosław Rojewski VP for Finance at PGE also participated in the discussion. He noted that the investment planned by PGE and ZE PAK is at an early stage of development, as the first cooperation agreement was signed in 2022. „We created a company (PGE PAK Energia Jądrowa – ed.) where each of the partners has 50%. The company is at the stage of preparation and application for environmental permits and the start of environmental research. After this period, we will talk with the Koreans and form a special purpose vehicle where KHNP will hold 49 percent and PGE and ZE PAK will hold 51 percent of shares. In terms of funding, we are at an early stage. By 2035, the investment will find its location. Two APR 1400 reactors will provide 2.8 GW. They will meet about 12 percent of today’s electricity consumption in Poland,” said Rojewski.
In addition, the representative of PGE revealed the company’s plans for the coming months. „We’ll spend the next 24 months researching. This is the time that will allow us to go through the research cycle. Then we will be able to clarify something about further milestones and the structure of the construction,” said Rojewski.
During the conference, the panelists also talked about the security issues related to the construction of NPPs as well as the eduction of the staff. The president of PEJ emphasized that „the company will be obliged to ensure that the investment is carried out with adherence to the highest safety standards. The process of acquiring competence began a long time ago. We are constantly hiring new specialists. By the end of this year, we want to add 140 employees to the company’s resources. We employ people with experience from all over the world,” assured the president of PEJ.
Aleksander Tretyn