This week, changes will begin in the management of PGE – the state-owned company that is to build a nuclear power plant in Konin together with the Korean KHNP and the Polish ZE PAK. As reported by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, the fate of the project is currently in the balance.
The General Meeting of PGE Shareholders will begin on Wednesday, which will begin the process of changing power in this state-owned company. Ultimately, Wojciech Dąbrowski, appointed by the previous government, is to say goodbye to the position of president. These moves may also be of great importance for ZE PAK, which, together with PGE and the Korean KHNP, plans to build a nuclear power plant in Konin.
Will Budka decide?
As Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports today, the fate of the project is currently in the balance. Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Minister of Climate and Environment and MP from the Konin-Gniezno constituency, does not say “No” to the nuclear power plant in Konin. But, as the newspaper notes, decisions regarding nuclear energy are to be made by the Ministry of State Assets, headed by KO MP Borys Budka. And here there is supposed to be less support for continuing construction.
– At the moment, I consider the project to be fictitious because the previous government did not propose any model in which it could be implemented – says Grzegorz Onichimowski, PO’s energy policy advisor, in DGP. As he says, PGE should present the strategy and conditions under which the project would be continued.
PiS MP Ryszard Bartosik asked an official question about the continuation of the project in December, during Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s expose. Recently, the Ministry of State Assets published the answer to his question. It is quite laconic. – Energy security is the basis for the functioning of the state, and in the face of the challenges related to the energy transformation, nuclear energy can provide a stable basis. The implementation of the project is consistent with the government’s plans for the development of nuclear energy – we read. – To sum up, Poland’s energy security is crucial. We will urgently implement the strategy to increase the energy security of our country, including through nuclear energy.
Koreans on standby
The Koreans themselves have already given a signal of their readiness to continue the project. In mid-January, the KHNP office in Warsaw was opened, and the company’s president, Jooho Wang, announced the signing of a contract for a feasibility study of a nuclear power plant by the end of March. – We understand that the government must familiarize itself with the activities of its predecessors. Once the new leadership is settled and in position, we will be in contact with them to provide the current status of the project and other key information – said Whang, quoted by tvn24.pl.
The nuclear power plant in Konin is to be built by 2035. In April last year, a special purpose vehicle, PGE PAK Energia Jądrowa, was established (created by the state-owned company PGE and the private company ZE PAK), which, together with the Korean KHNP, is to be responsible for the construction of the facility. In November, the project received a decision in principle from the Ministry of Climate and Environment. According to the assumptions, the nuclear power plant in Konin is to consist of two Korean APR1400 reactors with a total capacity of 2.8 GW.