Poland’s state-controlled power company PGE (Polska Grupa Energetyczna) will most likely not be able to bear the burden of building the country’s first nuclear power station, said the company’s recently appointed president Wojciech Dabrowski, according to national press agency PAP.

“The size of this investment would exceed our capabilities,” Mr Dabrowski said during a press conference on PGE’s 2019 performance. He gave no details of the possible size of investment needed from PGE.

Last month the government secretary responsible for energy infrastructure, Piotr Naimski, said Poland will have to spend €14bn in the first 10 years of its planned nuclear programme.

In 2019 then energy minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski was quoted in local press reports as saying Poland will probably need around €27bn by 2040 from foreign investors to build its first nuclear power station, but this would be provided over 20 years. He estimated the total investment at around €54bn, but he did not specify how many units this would be for.