Poles have high hopes for a deal with Korea in 2024

Last Friday the nuclear power plant project in Pątnów (a district in the city of Konin) received a decision-in-principle, which confirms that it is in the public interest and in line with Poland’s energy polict. Now the president of PGE PAK Energia Jądrowa, the company responsible for the implementation of the project, has announced that in 2024 the firm will sign a cooperation agreement with the Korean KHNP. The document will open the gates for more detailed work and commercial arrangements between these entities.

PGE PAK Energia Jądrowa, in which the Polska Grupa Energetyczna and the Pątnów-Adamów-Konin Power Plant Complex (ZE PAK) each have a 50 percent stake, expects to sign a cooperation agreement with Korea’s KHNP in 2024. The company CEO Jakub Rybicki announced that this would be possible after obtaining a feasibility study, which is expected later this year. The study induces the assessment of the potential of the project by objectively and rationally identifying its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and risks associated with it.

“Formalization is necessary, so we want to get a feasibility study from KHNP. Next year, however, we want to sign a cooperation agreement that will define the commitment to the capital, obligations and rights of all three entities. The following months will involve environmental, geological, seismic, etc., research. So the schedule is full,” said Jakub Rybicki, president of PGE PAK Energia Jądrowa during a press briefing last Monday.

“We need to know not only how we will build this power plant, but also how it will function after it launches in 2035. We need to think about everything, even how we will extinguish it after a few decades. [ … ] In 2028-2029, we want to start the construction of the nuclear power plant,” the CEO added.

KHNP can supply from two to four nuclear reactors, which in Pątnów (Konin region) could replace the three thermal power plants that run on lignite and biomass (Pątnów-Adamów-Konin Power Plant Complex). PGE and ZE PAK formed PGE PAK Energia Jądrowa, responsible for working with the Koreans on the project.

Jędrzej Stachura