Schedule will be maintained while EPC negotiations with US consortium continue
Polish state nuclear project company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) has signed an amendment to an agreement with the US-based Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium meaning the next stage of work to build Poland’s first commercial nuclear power station can go ahead.
PEJ said on 29 December the amendment is part of the engineering development agreement (EDA) and provides for the continuation of design and field work, including in-depth geological surveys.
The amendment will enable design work to go ahead for the nuclear island, turbine island, and the balance of plant, as well as further in-depth geological survey campaigns
This will allow the project schedule to be maintained while continuing negotiations and finalising the crucial engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.
The EPC will ultimately determine PEJ’s cooperation with the Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium, said PEJ president Marek Woszczyk.
“In terms of the current negotiations, we want to proceed reasonably quickly, which is why the amendment signed today allows us to continue talks on the EPC contract, focusing on quality, with no negative impact on the project”, Woszczyk said.
“To ensure timeliness, in the amendment to the EDA we have incorporated some of the work that was originally supposed to be included in the EPC contract.”
The amendment to the EDA paves the way for the launch of the next stage of geotechnical surveys in 2026, covering 1,000 drillings with a total depth of 15 km and 7,000 laboratory tests.
In the first half of the year, earthworks will begin to level the site and prepare it for the construction of temporary internal roads on the construction site. Also, the procurement of the first long lead items will continue.
Westinghouse is set to provide three AP1000 reactor units for the project, in the northern province of Pomerania on the Baltic coast.
PEJ said recently it had received 26 preliminary offers from banks supporting the debt financing of the facility, with the total amount several times greater than the required debt capital.
The support from banks followed a statement from the European Commission giving its approval for public aid estimated at PLN 60 billion (€14.2bn, $16.5bn).
The total capital expenditure for the project is estimated at around €42bn in nominal terms, with debt financing accounting for 70% of the investment cost and the remainder coming from Poland’s state budget.
The commission said in a statement on 9 December that the nuclear station is scheduled to start operating in the second half of the 2030s.
Poland’s energy minister Milosz Motyka told a press conference: “We can now freely begin the next investment steps.”
