The Pomeranian Voivode (governor) Dariusz Drelich has issued a decision determining the location of investments in the construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant. This relates to three AP1000 Westinghouse reactors with a total capacity of 3750 MWe. This allows Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ) to use the area for preparatory activities such as indicating, among other things, specific plots for implementation of the investment.
Earlier, PEJ obtained a basic decision and a decision on environmental conditions for its investment in Pomerania. PEJ also signed an Engineering Services Contract with a consortium of American companies including Westinghouse and Bechtel.
“This decision, combined with the recently signed contract for the design of the power plant with our American partners, proves that we are consistently achieving further milestones,” said Anna Lukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure. “We are not slowing down and will continue to work so that the energy from the first Polish NPP will be generates on schedule.”
The decision specifies in detail the territorial scope of investments both on land and at sea, and also specifies the conditions for the implementation of investments, including technical, environmental and conservation. The decision “brings us closer as an investor to the start of construction of the facility,” said Mateusz Berger, President of the PEJ Management Board.
The decision is not a building permit and a further permit from the governor will be needed to carry out preparatory work. A construction licence must then be issued by the President of the State Atomic Energy Agency followed by another permit from the governor of Pomerania before construction work can begin.
In December 2021, PEJ (which is wholly state treasury owned) selected the site of the plant near Lubiatowo-Kopalino in the coastal province of Pomerania. Construction is planned to start in 2026 with first reactor scheduled to be operational in 2033. The estimated cost of the investment is more than PLN100bn ($22.74bn). In November 2022, the government announced the first plant, with a capacity of 3750 MWe, would be built in Pomerania using Westinghouse AP1000 technology. An agreement outlining a plan for delivery of the plant was signed in May by Westinghouse, Bechtel and PEJ.
Earlier in October, PEJ signed and Engineering Services Contract (ESC) with Westinghouse and Bechtel for the design of the NPP. The contract scope includes finalising a site-specific design for the three AP1000 nuclear islands; turbine island and balance of plant design work; and support for PEJ to prepare licence application materials, training programmes, and operations and maintenance procedures.
Image: Visualization of Poland's first nuclear power plant (courtesy of PEJ)
