The new “special-purpose vehicle,” named PGE PAK Elektrownie Jądrowe, was officially established on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
PGE and ZE PAK representatives signed the new company’s statutes at a ceremony in the western village of Jóźwin, according to officials.
Also in attendance was Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin, the PAP news agency reported.
New 2800 MW nuclear station in western Poland
The purpose of PGE PAK Elektrownie Jądrowe is to team up with South Korea’s KHNP to build a nuclear power plant in Pątnów, near the western Polish city of Konin.
Comprising at least two South Korean APR1400 advanced pressurised water reactors, the nuclear facility will have a combined capacity of 2800 MW and is expected to produce around 10 percent of Poland’s energy output, according to PAP.
The planned nuclear station is estimated to take 12 years to build and cost PLN 100 billion (EUR 22 billion), reporters were told.
The role of the Polish special-purpose vehicle PGE PAK Elektrownie Jądrowe will be to carry out a feasibility study for the project, examine the proposed site and conduct an environmental impact assessment of the planned nuclear station, officials said.
‘Clean energy, 10,000 new jobs’
Sasin told reporters that “in view of energy transition and the European Union’s climate policy,” Poland “must look for new, zero-emission sources of energy and think about moving away from fossil sources of energy.”
He described PGE PAK Elektrownie Jądrowe as “an important company, established by serious partners who will team up with a serious South Korean partner to implement a serious project.”
Sasin added the project would "boost Poland's energy security."
He also said that the planned nuclear station represented “good news for the local community” in Pątnów, as it would create “around 10,000 new jobs.”
While the Polish-South Korean project to build a nuclear station in Pątnów “is not a project of the Polish government,” it nevertheless “has the support of the government,” Sasin declared.
He pledged: “The Polish government will do everything to facilitate the investment process.”
In March, Poland's energy giants PGE and ZE PAK company signed an agreement to set up a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) that would team up with South Korea’s KHNP to build a nuclear power plant in Pątnów, western Poland.
In October 2022, PGE and ZE PAK signed a letter of intent with South Korea’s state energy company KHNP on developing plans for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Pątnów, officials said.
At the same time, Poland’s Sasin and South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee-Chang Yang signed an agreement to support the construction of a nuclear power plant in western Poland using South Korean technology, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported at the time.
Meanwhile, Poland’s first nuclear station is set to be built using US technology in the northern villages of Lubiatowo and Kopalino, officials said.
Construction is set to start in 2026, with the first of three reactors slated to be ready in 2033, according to ministers.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, PGE