Warsaw has already chosen US-based Westinghouse to supply three AP1000 reactor units for facility
Poland’s state nuclear project company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) has submitted an application for a construction licence for the country’s first nuclear power station, marking what the company described as one of the most important milestones for the project.
PEJ said the documentation submitted for the planned three-unit station at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality of Pomerania, along Poland’s Baltic coast, exceeds 40,000 pages.
The application includes a preliminary safety analysis report, detailed information on nuclear safety, radiological protection, physical security, and organisational capability, said a statement.
Poland has chosen US-based Westinghouse to supply three AP1000 pressurised water reactor units for the nuclear power station. In 2023, Westinghouse and US engineering company Bechtel formed a consortium for the project.
Marek Woszczyk, president of PEJ, said the submission was the first of its kind in Poland’s post-1989 history, when the country moved from communist rule to democracy. In the 1980s Poland made progress with plans to build the Zarnowiec nuclear station, also in Pomerania, but construction was abandoned in 1990 due to changes in the economic and political situation and due to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
“Today is one of the most important days for the project to build Poland’s first nuclear power plant,” Woszczyk said.
Under Polish nuclear law, the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) must issue a construction licence within 24 months of receiving the application, excluding any time needed for PEJ to supplement the documentation.
PEJ said it plans to submit a separate construction permit application to the head of the Pomeranian administration in 2027.
Construction of the first of three units is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2028, starting with the pouring of first nuclear concrete. Operation of the first unit is scheduled for 2036, followed by the second in 2037 and the third in 2038.
Preparatory works at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site have been under way since 2025. The project has already received a location decision and an environmental decision.
A ‘Driving Force For Modern Industry’
Wojciech Wrochna, Poland’s state secretary for strategic energy infrastructure, said: “The submission of an application for a construction licence for Poland’s first nuclear power plant signals our determination to deliver this project, which will ensure stable energy prices for Polish families for decades to come and serve as a driving force for modern industry.”
PEJ has secured PLN 60bn (€14bn, $16.1bn) in state financing and has received approval of its financing model from the European Commission. Earlier reports put the total cost of the project around PLN 192-200bn, with PEJ seeking 30% state equity and 70% debt financing. A contract for difference scheme has been approved for the operational phase of the project.
An engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract between PEJ and the Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium is expected to be signed around mid-2026, local reports have said.
Poland wants to deploy nuclear power to cut dependence on coal and other fossil fuels and strengthen energy security amid growing geopolitical pressures. The project will involve local industrial participation and support the country’s construction and heavy industry sectors.
