Canada will support the construction of Polish nuclear power plants. Polish and Canada prime ministers signed an agreement. The construction of the first Polish nuclear power plant is to start in 2028.
There is a formal consent to the transfer of Canadian nuclear technologies to Poland. – It gives some legal framework that will enable even more intensive cooperation, which is very important to Canada and Poland when it comes to nuclear energy – emphasized Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Westinghouse, which is to build the first Polish nuclear power plant, belongs to Canadian companies. – We must soon start, apart from the conclusion of the contract with the Contractor, in addition to closing the financing, the process of licensing technology and obtaining all necessary permits – at the beginning of January pointed Wojciech Wrochna, deputy minister of industry, government representative for strategic energy infrastructure.
Construction works are to start in three years
The first construction works are to start in three years. – If we start construction in 2028, in 2035 we will complete the construction and after the next year needed for start -up, for tests, so that this installation works in a safe way, in 2036 the first electricity will flow to the network from the first reactor of the nuclear power plant in Pomerania – informs Marcin Skolimowski from Polish nuclear power plants, a company that is to act as an investor in the design of nuclear power plants.
The power plant in Choczew will be the largest investment in the history of Poland, worth PLN 180 billion. Two weeks ago, the government decided to donate PLN 60 billion from the budget for this purpose. The European Commission must be approved by these decisions.
Cooperation with Canada also applies to SMR, innovative low power reactors. The first such installation in the world is created in the Canadian Ontario. – Orlen Synthos Green Energy is building a fleet of the same technology, GE Hitachi, in Poland and will allow them to function in the early 1930s – says Rafał Kasprów, president of the board of Orlen Synthos Green Energy.
“We are very late because we have a so -called production gap”
Last year, almost 70 percent of energy produced in Poland came from coal and gas. Almost a third – from renewable sources. Poland has undertaken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and is moving away from fossil fuels. Although we produce more and more green energy, it still cannot be fully replaced by coal and gas.
– If I were to compare the construction of a nuclear power plant, when it comes to its importance, to, for example, building a house, the atom is such a foundation. This is a kind of basis on which we base other parts of our energy mix – explains Jakub Wiech from the Energetyka24.com portal.
The demand for energy is growing from year to year, and Poland wants to additionally focus on the development of artificial intelligence, large databases and computing centers with a huge electricity appetite.
– From this point of view, we are very late because we have a so -called manufacturing gap, i.e. a deficiency of the power plant in relation to demand. Meanwhile, the discussion about nuclear energy, counting since the fall of the project in Żarnowiec, is 30 years old – emphasizes Wojciech Jakóbik from the Energy Security Center.
Locations of subsequent Polish nuclear power plants are to be announced this year.
Source of the main photo: PAP/Marcin Obara