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France’s EDF opens Warsaw office as Poland eyes nuclear power: report

13.07.2021 20:05
France’s state-controlled utility EDF has opened an office in Warsaw and announced plans to prepare a nuclear energy proposal for the Polish market, according to a report.
Photo:
Photo:PAP/Wojciech Pacewicz

“France offers a European solution based on the EPR, a 3rd generation technology already licensed by several European safety authorities, as well as on 50 years of experience with nuclear energy,” Philippe Crouzet, the French government’s High Representative for Nuclear Cooperation with Poland, has said in a statement in English published on EDF’s website.

Its vice-president for new nuclear development, Vakis Ramany, added that Poland was a key market for his company.

“We promote a long-term strategic partnership grounded in three key dimensions: embarking the Polish supply chain; building the human capacity of the future owner-operator for security of supply and independence; and exploring, with the support of the French government, the various financing tools and options to secure the Polish program,” Ramany said in the statement.

The Polish government spokesman last year said his country was in talks with the United States, France and Japan to help it build its first nuclear power plant.

Since then South Korea has also expressed an interest in the Polish nuclear project, the PAP news agency reported.

Poland's first nuclear power plant to start in 2033

The first unit of a new Polish nuclear power plant is expected to be put into operation in 2033, under a long-term energy policy adopted by the government earlier this year.

Then further units are expected to come online every two to three years until a total of six, with a combined capacity of up to 9 GW, are in service, Polish state news agency PAP has reported.

The Polish government's pointman on strategic energy infrastructure, Piotr Naimski, said in mid-2019 that nuclear power would account for around 20 percent of Poland’s energy mix by 2045.

(jh/gs)

Source: energetyka24.com