Initial Pątnów site assessment under way

Friday, 11 November 2022

On 31 October, Poland's Ministry of State Assets, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Polish companies ZE PAK and Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE), and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) agreed to develop plans for a nuclear power plant in Pątnów.

In a Letter of Intent, the three companies agreed to "jointly prepare a plan for the construction of a nuclear power plant based on Korea's APR1400 technology". It added that the companies would "perform geotechnical, seismic, and environmental conditions analysis ... estimate the budget for each stage of pre-work - construction - operation according to the mutually proposed financing model, and define the impact on the implementation of the project and set milestones for the implementation of the project". It suggested a preliminary plan would be drawn up by the end of the year.

On 9 November, representatives from KHNP, ZE PAK and PGE visited the proposed site in Pątnów for the new nuclear power plant. The group verified site suitability by executing site investigations on cooling water capacity, power grid, environment, etc.

An APR1400 Suppliers Symposium was held on 10 November at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Warsaw, which was attended by around 200 guests from the Polish government, businesses and suppliers in the nuclear industry. The event was organised by KHNP, the Korea Nuclear Association and the Polish Chamber of Power Industry and Environmental Protection.

During the event, Team Korea - including KEPCO E&C, KEPCO Nuclear Fuel, KEPCO KPS, Doosan Enerbility and Daewoo E&C - signed MoUs with 13 Polish suppliers including Zarmen, APS Energia, Energomontaz, Ecol, and Finow for mutual cooperation in material supply, operation and maintenance, etc. while agreeing to enhance cooperation between companies for the Polish nuclear project.

On the same day, Nam Yoh-Shik, head of KHNP's Project & Overseas Nuclear Business Division, met Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin and the Korea's Ambassador to Poland Lim Hoonmin to discuss plans for cooperation, such as the direction for project plan preparation, site suitability assessment plans, and plans for cooperation with ZE PAK.

KHNP said it will establish project plans including plans for the construction process, construction cost and financing for the project.

According to Poland's PAP news agency, KHNP has proposed providing financing for 49% of the costs of constructing the Pątnów nuclear power plant.

"With the letter of intent between companies for the Polish nuclear project, we will prepare for the project and achieve the highest level in every aspect including safety, technology, economy and on-time construction based on the excellent capabilities of Team Korea," KHNP CEO Hwang Joo-ho said.

On 28 October, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that the US firm Westinghouse had been selected for the first part of the country's six-reactor plan to build up to 9 GWe of capacity by 2040. The letter of intent about the Pątnów plant says the Korean agreement "is a new project to supplement the existing Polish government-led nuclear power plant plan".