Poland expects to commission first nuclear reactor by 2033

The Polish government has released its draft energy strategy until 2040 and considers the development of a domestic nuclear power project that could start commercial operations in 2033. According to the document, the nuclear project should have an installed capacity standing between 1 GW and 1.5 GW. Later on, the government forecasts to deploy around 6 GW - 9 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2043 and expects this capacity to account for approximately 10% of the domestic power generation by then. At the moment, two possible sites in northern Poland are under consideration for the first units: Lubiatowo-Kopalino and Żarnowiec (Pomerania).



Poland has mulled over the development of a nuclear power plant project for years but a binding decision has still to be taken. In April 2017, Polska Grupa Energetyczna Energia Jądrowa 1 (PGE EJ1), the nuclear subsidiary of the Polish company Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) started localisation and environmental studies related to the preparatory work for the construction of the first Polish nuclear plant. The studies are expected to be completed during the first half of 2020.



The document also forecasts that the domestic energy demand will ramp up between 20% and 25% by 2030 and Poland will be required to build new power plants as the upgrade of the domestic power plants will not be sufficient to cope with this significant increase. Coal-fired power generation will still account for 60% of the domestic power generation in 2030.



The government also forecasts renewable energies to reach a share of 21% in the final gross energy consumption by 2030 (including electricity, heating, cooling and transport).