Nuclear Power for Poland – conference summary

According to official plans, Poland should start building the first nuclear power plant units in a few years’ time. The three companies that submitted bids to the Polish government – EDF, Westinghouse and KHNP – presented details of their proposals at the ‘Nuclear Power for Poland’ conference, organised by the Energy Club and the Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw.

Despite the differences in technological and business solutions, one component is common to all three bids – they all declare that in the first phase, the contribution of Polish companies to the investment (local content) can be about 50 per cent of its value, and this share will increase in the future phases.

EDF

French EDF’s proposal for Poland included building third-generation EPR pressurized water reactors. EDF has operating reactors in France, the UK, Finland and China, and is currently planning to build 6 EPRs in India.”Our solutions are highly flexible in the event of drops in energy demand. Within 20 minutes we can change the power output between 20 and 100 per cent, depending on the level of grid load, and precisely control the capacity of our power plant to generate energy,” indicated EDF Poland’s CEO Thierry Deschaux. Mr Deschaux highlighted the participation of Polish companies in the project. “We have talked to a hundred Polish companies to take part in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland. We want to involve companies from Poland and this will not be the end of it. We have already certified 70 companies that can start working with us across Europe,” said the CEO of EDF Poland during the conference. “From the outset we declared that for the first reactors in the Polish nuclear programme, local content would be as high as 50%, and when building all six reactors the final share of Polish companies would be 60-70%,” EDF Poland’s CEO added. Mr Deschaux also pointed out that the company is currently building two reactors in the UK and more than 60 per cent of the project’s value is contracted to UK companies (the so-called “local content”).

KHNP

In turn, Mr Min Hwan Chang, representative of the Korean conglomerate KHNP, estimated that at the beginning the local Polish contribution could be less than 50%, but during subsequent construction it would reach 50 and ultimately 70 per cent. The Koreans are offering to build six units with APR1400 reactors. As Mr Min Hwan Chang pointed out, KHNP, if the Korean bid is selected, envisages cooperation with Polish companies in three stages:“In the first stage, cooperation would cover what Polish companies can supply immediately. In the second – what they can already deliver, but in cooperation with Korean companies; the third stage would apply to what can be delivered after some time, once the right competence has been acquired,” he explained.He added that KHNP will make every effort to ensure that Polish companies can manufacture everything necessary for the operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants for 60 years. Min Hwan Chang of Korea’s KHNP also pointed to the company’s credibility and ability to build on time and on budget using the example of the Barakah power plant in the United Arab Emirates. It includes 4 APR1400 reactors that KHNP has proposed to Poland; two are already in operation, construction of the other two is nearing completion.”On schedule,” Mr Chang stressed, pointing out that the first unit already in operation took six years to build. As the Korean representative added, the cost of the Barakah project will

ultimately amount to USD 24 billion, a 20% increase from the USD 20 billion originally planned. The most important factor in this growth is the inflation over 10 years of construction, Mr Chang assessed.

Westinghouse

In September 2022, US-based Westinghouse submitted a bid to the Polish government to build an AP1000 reactor, of which there are 3 in operation in the US and 4 more under construction in China. “We have experience in building a supply chain, and we would like to use 50% of supplies from the Polish industry,” said Westinghouse’s Vice-President for New Plant Projects, Joel Eacker.”We estimate orders for Polish companies at more than PLN 100 billion for the entire project,” noted the head of the Polish branch of Westinghouse, Mirosław Kowalik, emphasising that it is in Poland’s interest to keep as much money as possible in the country. He recalled that Westinghouse already has an office in Kraków and has been preparing a feasibility study for a year, working closely with subcontractors. “We have already signed memoranda with a number of companies, allowing for exchange of technical information. We already have the knowledge of who to use and when. Many Polish companies are already working for the nuclear industry,” Mr Kowalik pointed out. Westinghouse Vice-President Joel Eacker, presenting the advantages of the AP1000 reactor at a conference organised by the Energy Club and the UW Faculty of Management, recalled that it has passive safety systems, requiring no power to operate, many components from older, proven models, but also the latest technology, including a modular design. The unit itself is much smaller than competitors’ products, and its construction requires much less material such as concrete and steel; the AP1000 also has the first fully digital command and control system in nuclear power and a high capacity factor, Mr Eacker said. If selected, the first Polish AP1000 would be the 11th in the series, he noted, adding that the company is confident it can deliver the product on time and on budget.

Panels and discussions un the other four panels, discussions included SMR solutions and the importance of this technology for the future of Poland’s energy sector. There were also discussions on cooperation between business and academia and on building human resources for the nuclear power industry in Poland. A separate discussion panel was also devoted to safety and environmental issues in the context of the use of nuclear technology. A very interesting discussion also emerged during the panel discussion on local supply and value chain. Panellists discussed the need for a business ecosystem for nuclear power in Poland. The starting point for the discussion was the presentation of preliminary results of a report prepared by a team from the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Management.

According to the timetable adopted by the Council of Ministers, construction of the first Polish nuclear power plant should start in 2026, with the first nuclear unit with a capacity of about 1-1.6 GW to be commissioned in 2033. According to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, further units will be completed every two to three years and the entire nuclear programme envisages the construction of nuclear units with a total installed capacity of approximately 6 to 9 GWe.

The Polish government expects the selection of a specific nuclear power plant technology to take place in October 2022.

Nuclear Power for Poland
– Detailed agenda
– List of speakers

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