Prime Minister: there is approval from the European Commission; the first 4 billion PLN for the construction of the Polish nuclear power plant in December

The European Commission has approved Poland’s provision of aid for the construction of a nuclear power plant; the first 4 billion PLN for the investment will be provided this month, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday. The approval for granting support was issued in record time, added Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka.

On Tuesday, the European Commission officially approved Poland’s provision of state aid for the construction of a nuclear power plant.

“We’ve got it! Billions in state aid for the construction of the first Polish nuclear power plant. There is Europe’s approval and there is money. The first four billion already this month,” the prime minister wrote on X.

Minister Motyka pointed out that this is another step towards building the first Polish nuclear power plant. He added that the decision was issued in record time, in less than 12 months. “We submitted the application, carried out the process and obtained approval in record time (…) in less than a year. We are now moving on to the key phase of the investment. This is the real dimension of the energy transition, this is the building of energy sovereignty, this is a guarantee of stable energy and energy security,” Motyka said in a video posted on X.

“Today, Poland is the fastest-growing large EU economy. We need a stable and safe source of energy. Nuclear power is precisely such a source,” said Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domański in a video published on X.

During a press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Motyka stated that the green light from the European Commission for state aid in the construction of a nuclear power plant means that Poland will now be able “to freely begin further investment steps in this area.” He added that in 2027 an application for a construction permit for the power plant will be submitted, and in 2028 construction work will begin: “pouring the first concrete for the reactor, so that everything is finalized according to plan in 2036, in order to be able then to start the actual commissioning of the nuclear power plant.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Energy pointed out that the European Commission had accepted “a complete support model for the project to build the first nuclear power plant in Poland (…) in line with the expectations of the Polish side.” It added that Poland submitted the notification request in September 2024, and the decision was made “almost twice as fast as in the case of the last decision of this type in Europe.”

“The construction of the first Polish nuclear power plant is becoming a fact, and the decision of the European Commission underlines the enormous strength of the project we are implementing. (…) Nuclear energy will be one of the foundations of the Polish energy mix. Today we have taken an extremely important step towards unleashing it. Nuclear power will become the foundation of Poland’s electricity security and a driver of our economic development. Today we are already the world’s 20th-largest economy. With nuclear, we can reach even further,” said Motyka, quoted in the Ministry of Energy’s statement. The ministry also stressed that the first nuclear power plant in Poland is the largest investment in the energy sector in Poland’s history.

The ministry explained that the support mechanism includes three basic elements: recapitalization of the investor, i.e. the company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) by the State Treasury, State Treasury guarantees for the project covering 100 percent of debt financing, and a two-way contract for difference for the operational phase of the power plant.

It added that the contract for difference will be shortened from 60 to 40 years, which remains consistent with the debt repayment cycle. It also assumes the inclusion of long-term markets (PPA, forward) in the settlement system and the possibility of flexibly adjusting production if this is economically and technically justified.

“The adopted model provides the investor with predictable revenues while at the same time protecting consumers. A mechanism for sharing extraordinary profits has been introduced which—if they occur—will go directly to the state budget and will be able to finance public tasks. The contract for difference is also a tool used by other European Union countries developing nuclear power: the Czech Republic, Belgium, Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Bulgaria,” the energy ministry wrote.

As stated, up to 30 percent of production will be sold through PPA auctions, and the remaining 70 percent will go to organized markets (exchanges), with full transparency of the process.

The financial model verified by the European Commission assumes a strike price of below 500 PLN per MWh, which is competitive, particularly taking into account the numerous benefits that the nuclear power plant will provide for the entire power system.

The Polish nuclear power plant is to have a capacity of 3750 MW. The projected capacity factor of the plant in 2040 is about 88.5 percent, the ministry said in the statement.

Deputy Energy Minister and government plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure Wojciech Wrochna, quoted by the Ministry of Energy, assessed that the European Commission’s decision is one of the key stages of this project. He added that, as part of the dialogue with the European Commission, the Polish side clarified “all, even the smallest” doubts of the Commission. “Receiving the final decision of the European Commission is the culmination of the extremely hard work of our team. It served to develop a mechanism that will make it possible to finance and implement the project to build a nuclear power plant, taking into account the interests of the state, the investor and, most importantly, electricity consumers. (…) This investment will be completed—we are convinced of that,” Wrochna explained.

As Prime Minister Tusk said before the government meeting on Tuesday, the construction of the power plant “will be able to start at full speed, and already in December.” He declared that financial resources have been secured in full, i.e. the amount of 60 billion PLN. Referring to the European Commission’s approval, Tusk stated that it was “an absolutely necessary condition and by no means so easy to obtain.” “We will indeed be able to start this construction with the appropriate momentum so that electricity from the first nuclear power plant in Poland will flow as soon as possible,” he said.

The company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, 100 percent owned by the State Treasury, is the investor and future operator of the first nuclear power plant being built in Pomerania under the 2020 Polish Nuclear Power Programme. The plant at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site is to have three units using Westinghouse AP1000 technology. The contractor will be the Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium. The pouring of the so-called first nuclear concrete is planned for 2028, and the start of commercial operation of the first unit is scheduled for 2036. (9.12.2025)