Dariusz Marzec President of Poland’s largest state-controlled power utility, Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) announced that preliminary had been completed to investigate the possibility of building Poland’s second NPP in the Bełchatów region.
In information posted on X, Marzec wrote: “Analytical work, including a review of archival geological and environmental data, indicates that this region may meet the criteria required to implement such an investment. These results open the way for further in-depth field research.”
He added: “We plan to start the next stage of research work, including: preparing a cooling water study and drilling the first wells to identify local geological conditions. All analyses and research are conducted in a technologically neutral manner. In accordance with the Polish Nuclear Energy Programme, the decision to choose the technology for the second Polish nuclear power plant will be made by the Polish government.”
He said this stage of work for the PGE Group was carried out by the AGH University of Science & Technology (Krakow), the Central Mining Institute – National Research Institute (Katowice), the National Geological Institute (Warsaw) and the Poltegor-Institute – Open-pit Mining Institute (Wrocław).
In March, PGE Vice-President Maciej Górski noted that Bełchatów was indicated as one of the two preferred locations for the construction of a second NPP in the updated Polish Nuclear Energy Programme (PPEJ – Program Polskiej Energetyki Jądrowej).
The PPEJ involves the construction of two NPPs with a total capacity of 6-9 GWe. It envisages the start of commercial operation of the first unit in 2036, followed by commercial operation of the next two units in 2037 and 2038. This represents a three-year delay compared with the previous PPEJ released in 2020 which expected the first plant to be operational in 2033.
The first NPP is being constructed at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania. An agreement setting a plan for the delivery of the plant was signed in May 2023 by Westinghouse, Bechtel and state-owned project company Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ).
Bełchatów and Konin are two preferred locations being considered for the second NPP, according to Paveł Gajda, director of the nuclear energy department at the Ministry of Industry. He noted that the list of locations has been limited to those in which coal-fired power plants are currently located.
Jacek Kaczorowski, president of PGE Górnictwo I Energetyka Konventionalna (PGE GiEK), which includes the power plant and mine in Bełchatów, said in an interview with PAP that Bełchatów already has water resources needed for the technological processes of the future plant. Three potential locations for the NPP were also presented. They range in size from 100 to 300 hectares and are located in the immediate vicinity of the current conventional power plant.
