Poland’s first nuclear power plant to cost around $20 bln

Poland’s first nuclear power station, which will be built by U.S. firm Westinghouse Electric Co, will cost around $20 billion, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki revealed.

Last week, Poland chose Westinghouse Electric Co for the project in a bid to reduce the country’s carbon emissions and phase out coal.

“We have to give an estimate, it will be up to $20 billion or 90-100 billion zloty,” Morawiecki told a news briefing.

Under the government’s nuclear program six reactors with up to 9 gigawatts (GW) of capacity will be built in two locations. A partnership between Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP), Poland’s top utility PGE SA, ZE PAK  aims for additional 3 reactors, Climate Minister Anna Moskwa told the same news briefing.

“Poland’s maximum potential is as much as 15 GW of nuclear capacity,” Moskwa said.

Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Anna Koper and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Alison Williams and Tomasz Janowski