Poland took another step in building its first nuclear power plant after the government greenlit as much as 60.2 billion zloty ($14.7 billion) in funding for the project which still awaits the European Union approval to go ahead.
On Tuesday, Donald Tusk’s cabinet adopted a draft bill that allows it to increase the capital of PEJ Sp. z o.o., the state company in charge of building the 3.75 gigawatt reactors at the Baltic seaside. The government will be able to transfer bonds or cash to PEJ, depending on the investment’s schedule.
Poland plans to complete the project in 2036 to replace aging coal-fired plants and keep steady deliveries to its power system, while cleaning up its act at the same time. The fresh equity input will account for 30% of the plant’s funding, with the remainder coming in the form of debt from the US Export-Import Bank and other financial institutions.
The decision comes as the European Commission is investigating the country’s proposal for the state aid to the project, which apart from the equity injections includes a contract for difference for power from the plant and state guarantees for PEJ’s debt. The EU’s executive arm said last month that it has “doubts at this stage on whether the measure is fully in line with EU state aid rules.”
As nuclear power sees revival across the world with artificial intelligence driving the demand for the uninterrupted supply, Poland is speeding up its process to avoid order delays. Wojciech Wrochna, the government official in charge of the critical infrastructure, said that talks with the EU could take more than a year and the country plans to sign a final agreement with Westinghouse Electric Co. and Bechtel Group Inc. after that.
Source: BNN Bloomberg
