Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, Westinghouse and Bechtel discuss closer cooperation in the project of the first nuclear power plant in Poland
Directions and principles of cooperation were the main subject of the talks between Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel Power Corporation that took place in Washington. The talks were attended by PEJ Acting President - Łukasz Młynarkiewicz, President of Energy Systems at Westinghouse Electric Company - David Durham, Bechtel President and Chief Operating Officer - Craig Albert, and President of the Nuclear Power, Safety and Environment Segment at Bechtel - John Howanitz.
- Construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland is an investment project by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, for which preparatory works are already well advanced. Important meetings with the US partners are behind us, bringing us closer to the next stage which is the commencement of the NPP design phase. We hope that our good talks with Westinghouse and Bechtel will translate into acceleration of work on the agreement on the model of cooperation in the project implementation between Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe and the US party - says Łukasz Młynarkiewicz, Acting President of the Management Board of Polskie Elektorwnie Jądrowe.
- Westinghouse appreciates the deep level of cooperation with PEJ and Bechtel on this critically important project to provide carbon free baseload electricity and energy security for Poland. Our project is progressing steadily, and we look forward to delivering the most advanced, proven nuclear energy technology with our partners. – says David Durham, President of Energy Systems at Westinghouse Electric Company.
- Bechtel is deeply committed to nuclear energy as a key contributor to decarbonization and energy independence, and we view Poland’s decision to move forward with its first nuclear power station as visionary. The Bechtel-Westinghouse team offers a solution that is proven, operating, and licensed in more than one country. Capturing the expertise from work already completed and partnering with Polish industry, our team is ready to deliver for PEJ- says John Howanitz of Bechtel.
Agreed effective cooperation model and upcoming steps
During the talks, long-term vision of cooperation, mutual expectations and division of responsibilities in the project, as well as the model of its implementation ensuring its most effective delivery were discussed. In the near future, Memorandum of Understanding between PEJ, Westinghouse and Bechtel is planned to be signed, which will ultimately allow to formalize the selected cooperation model in the form of a consortium. Such a model of cooperation, favored from the beginning by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, will be applied already at the stage of the next contract, planned for later this year, i.e. the Engineering Services Contract, covering the first stage of work on the detailed technical design of the NPP in Pomerania. The contract will be the first commercial agreement directly involving Bechtel, which since 2017 together with Westinghouse has been constructing two units in the Vogtle power plant in the state of Georgia. Signing the contract with the Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium will allow to take advantage of the unique competence and experience that they gained during the construction of two reactors AP1000 in the US that is being finalized. The meetings were a continuation of the contract between PEJ and Westinghouse for works preceding the design of the power plant in Pomerania concluded in February, and the talks held by the governments of Poland and the US.