WARSAW, Dec 9 (Reuters) – The European Commission has agreed to allow Poland to provide state aid for the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.
The European Commission confirmed in a statement that it had approved the state aid.
Poland, seeking to cut its reliance on coal, chose Westinghouse Electric to build its first nuclear plant on the Baltic Sea coast.
Poland aims to begin construction of the first unit of the plant in 2028 and complete it in 2036.
“We will soon have official confirmation that the European Commission agrees to state aid for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland,” Tusk said.
“We have secured the full amount of funding, amounting to 60 billion zlotys ($16.51 billion).
In December, meaning this year, the first 4.6 billion zlotys in treasury securities will reach the interested entity.”
EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S CONSENT IS A NECESSARY CONDITION
Tusk said the European Commission’s consent was a necessary condition for launching the Polish nuclear programme.
“We will indeed be able to begin construction with sufficient momentum, so that electricity from the first nuclear power plant in Poland can flow as quickly as possible,” he said.
Government officials said the nuclear plant would ensure Poles have access to cheap and reliable energy.
“The power plant will supply electricity to Polish consumers and Polish industry, and it will do so at a relatively low price… and will be able to generate energy for free for the next 40 years,” Deputy Energy Minister Wojciech Wrochna said during a separate press conference.
“In my opinion, this operation will allow us to achieve some of the most competitive energy prices in the world.”
($1 = 3.6347 zlotys)
(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Susan Fenton and Barbara Lewis)
