Poland will begin building its first nuclear power plant later this month after the EU formally approved public funding for the project, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.
Posting on X, the prime minister said: “We have it! Billions in public aid for the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant. Europe has given its approval and the funds are there.”
He earlier said: “This will allow the project to move forward at full speed, and that will already happen in December.
“That means construction begins,” he added.
EU approval was needed, as Poland intends to provide substantial state aid for the project, which will be built in Lubiatowo-Kopalino, a coastal site in northern Poland.
The state support package, greenlit by the European Commission on Tuesday, includes direct capital injections into PEJ, the state-owned company overseeing construction, covering around 30% of the project.
The Polish state will also guarantee all the debt taken by the company and ensure stable revenues for PEJ by subsidizing any difference between market prices and energy production costs for a period of 40 years.
Several revisions were made to Poland’s original state aid plan to ensure it complied with the commission’s terms.
Funds unlocked
The approval unlocks a major financing package worth 60 billion złoty (about €14.2 billion), which Warsaw considers essential for launching the project on the Baltic coast. In total, the power plant is expected to cost around €42 billion in capital funding.
Brussels’ decision represents an unusually fast approval. Poland submitted its formal notification to the Commission in September 2024, and the Commission opened an extended review in December.
Similar proceedings for the Czech Republic’s nuclear program took nearly two years.
Tusk said that the government has secured the full public-funding component and that the first €1.1 billion, issued in the form of treasury securities, will be transferred to the project company this month.
Poland’s first nuclear power plant
The plant will consist of three reactors using AP1000 technology supplied by the U.S. company Westinghouse. The construction work will be carried out by a Westinghouse–Bechtel consortium.
According to the current schedule, the government plans to pour the “first nuclear concrete” in 2028, which marks the formal start of nuclear construction.
The first reactor is expected to begin commercial operation in 2036. Officials say the plant will play a central role in Poland’s long-term strategy to cut emissions, reduce reliance on coal and improve energy security.
EU approval is considered the final major regulatory hurdle for launching the project, which is expected to combine large-scale public funding with debt financing arranged through foreign export-credit agencies.
Source: TVP World