The supervisory Board of Polish utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) has approved a strategy plan for the period 2012-2035. The plan envisages the start-up of two new nuclear power plants in Poland before 2030.
As part of its new strategy PGE aims to increase its generating capacity and to diversify its sources of generating technology.
The state-owned utility plans to raise its generating capacity from the current 13.1GW to 21.3 GW by 2035, an increase of over 60%. At the same time, it plans to reduce its dependence of fossil fuels. Today, more than 95% of PGE’s generation comes from lignite and hard coal. By 2035 the plan envisages nuclear taking a 36% share with brown coal (33%), renewables (14%), gas (11%) and coal (5%) making up the remainder.
The strategy envisages one nuclear power plant starting up in 2025 and the second in 2029.
Three potential locations for the first nuclear power plant were named in November 2011. These were Zarnowiec and Gaski in north-west Poland and Choczewo in the north of the country. PGE will launch a tender for the reactor technology supplier will in 2012. So far vendors GE Hitachi and Westinghouse have began gearing up the supply chains for a potential nuclear project.
PGE said in its plan that scope of the entire programme will depend on economics. It envisages that if the electricity generating costs from nuclear power is 65-68 EUR / MWh, it will be economic in most scenarios.
Related ArticlesCameco to supply uranium to China Guandong Nuclear Power
