Orlen’s SMR project bankrolled by the US government

Orlen Synthos Green Energy will receive financial support from the US government to construct small modular reactors. The money will come from the Phoenix Project, which aims to support the development of SMR technologies in Central Europe, in particular in locations strongly connected with conventional energy generation.

Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) will receive funding from the US State Department to accelerate the construction of small reactors in Poland. Phoenix, whose beneficiaries will be Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, will finance the preparation of feasibility studies for the projects.

“We will be financially supporting feasibility studies, as we want to assist conducting the energy transition from coal to SMRs. We take the role of nuclear energy in the energy transition very seriously. We are all aware that we cannot achieve zero emissions without it,” said John Kerry, the US President’s special  envoy for climate.

“Thank you very much to the State Department and the Department of Energy for supporting our efforts and choosing us for the Phoenix Project. Poland’s energy transformation should be based on American nuclear technologies, in particular the proven BWRX-300 technology developed by GE Hitachi. Thanks to the inclusion of Phoenix in the project, we can significantly accelerate our activities,” said Rafał Kasprów, president of OSGE.

Phoenix is an initiative of the United States government to support the transition in Europe from fossil fuel-based energy to SMR reactors while preserving local jobs by retraining workers. The Phoenix Project provides direct financial support from the U.S. government to develop feasibility studies for selected SMR technologies. Activities supporting the energy security objectives of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe can also be financed,” a press statement about this project said.

Funds from the Phoenix Project are primarily to be used for the construction of the SMR in Ostrołęka, which has been identified as one of the locations of the birth of the small atom in Poland. The others, highlighted in the Orlen list, are Włocławek, Stawy Monowskie, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Kraków-Nowa Huta, as well as the Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone, which includes Tarnobrzeg and Stalowa Wola.

More information about the American project can be found here.

Orlen Synthos Green Energy / Jędrzej Stachura