Two power companies set up nuclear initiative

Two Polish power companies have established a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) that will represent Poland in talks with South Korea's KHNP on the construction of Poland's first nuclear plant.

In November 2022, the Polish government approved a resolution on building large-scale nuclear power plants in Poland, which confirmed the selection of the American firm Westinghouse as the technology provider for the first Polish nuclear power plant (NPP).

The country's first NPP will be located in Lubiatowo-Kopalino, a coastal site in the north of Poland, and the cost of its building has been estimated at USD 20 billion. The location of the second government-sponsored plant is not determined yet.

The deal signed on Tuesday between energy firms PGE and ZE PAK concerns a third NPP that could be built in collaboration with the South Korean company KHNP if negotiations are successful.

Speaking at a contract-signing ceremony on Tuesday, Jacek Sasin, the state assets minister, said that his government has initiated the construction of Poland's first two nuclear plants.

"I think that we'll know the location of the second plant in the autumn," Sasin went on to say.

"To complement the governmental initiative, a project of joint construction of a nuclear power plant was created a few months ago," Sasin said of the third NPP, which would be built by private companies.

"The two plants that will be constructed under the government scheme will be perfectly complemented by this project, which is a business one but supported by the government," Sasin said.

PGE and ZE PAK will split the shares in the SPV equally, but the new vehicle still needs the approval of the country's anti-trust watchdog UOKiK.