Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe applies for a location decision for Poland’s first nuclear power plant
On 22 August 2023 Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) submitted an application to the Head of Pomorskie Voivodeship for issuing a location decision for Poland’s first nuclear power plant, to be built in Pomerania, in Choczewo commune. It is one the key milestones in the administrative process leading to the start of construction of a nuclear facility.
A location decision for an investment project consisting in the construction of a nuclear facility, for a project involving the construction and operation of the first nuclear power plant in Poland, with capacity of up to 3,750 MWe, in Choczewo commune, will be issued pursuant to the Act of 29 June 2011 on the preparation and implementation of nuclear power facilities and associated investment projects. It will grant PEJ the right to the use of the area necessary for the construction of the project both onshore and offshore. It will also specify land plots that will be covered by the project, as well as specify the conditions for the project delivery, including technical, environmental and conservation, and fire protection conditions.
“The application for issuing a location decision submitted today is one of the key milestones in the activities undertaken by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe in the process of obtaining all the necessary administrative approvals to commence the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland. The Polish Government is responsibly transforming Poland’s energy mix and the power system, improving the country’s energy security. Consistent implementation of the Polish Nuclear Power Program brings us closer to the moment when the country’s first nuclear power plant will start operating and generating electricity in Pomerania, providing Poles with zero-emission, safe and sustainable energy - said Minister Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure.
PEJ, as a special purpose vehicle created to coordinate the process of building the country’s first large-scale nuclear power plant, is responsible for the smooth and timely execution of the investment project. This involves obtaining a number of administrative approvals required under the legal regulations in force for access to the real property and the construction of the project itself, among other things. The list of administrative approvals obtained by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe thus far includes a decision-in-principle issued by the Ministry of Climate and Environment, confirming that the Company’s investment project is in line with the country’s energy policy, as well as a general opinion confirming the correctness of the scope of verification of safety analyses provided by the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA). The environmental procedure leading to the issuance of a decision on environmental conditions is also at a very advanced stage.
Under the Polish Nuclear Power Program, construction of two nuclear power plants is planned – the power plant in Pomerania is the first one. As a direct response to the necessity of improving the country’s energy security and of meeting future electricity demand, it is one of the most important investment projects executed in Poland in decades.