Poland’s Ministry, PEJ and PGE Sign Agreement on Second Nuclear Plant

Summary not found.

Poland’s Ministry of Energy, state-owned developer Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) and utility PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna signed an agreement on October 13 dividing responsibilities for preparing the country’s second nuclear power plant, known as EJ2. The deal implements the updated Polish Nuclear Power Programme adopted by the Council of Ministers on September 29, and formally hands PEJ the roles of project coordinator and investor while PGE takes on preliminary feasibility and site studies on PEJ’s behalf.

Splitting the work between coordinator and site specialist

Under the agreement, PEJ — the same state vehicle managing Poland’s first nuclear plant — becomes responsible for preparing and coordinating EJ2 overall. PGE’s role is narrower: together with potential technology suppliers, it will prepare preliminary feasibility studies and carry out site analyses at Bełchatów and Konin, the two locations the government’s nuclear programme names as preferred for the second plant. The Ministry of Energy signed as a party to improve coordination at the government level, rather than taking an operational role.

“Nuclear energy is of strategic importance for state security,” Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka said in the ministry’s announcement. State Assets Minister Wojciech Balczun framed the agreement around continuity, stressing cooperation between state-linked companies that holds “regardless of political cycles,” while Deputy Energy Minister and government plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure Wojciech Wrochna, who signed as Secretary of State, said the next steps are location analyses, feasibility studies and a competitive technology selection process built around financing as much as engineering.

A competitive dialogue with the US, France and Canada

EJ2 is expected to use the same class of technology as Poland’s first plant — large-scale, proven Generation III+ light-water reactors — though no specific design has been chosen. A competitive dialogue to select both a technology supplier and a strategic partner is already under way, with participants representing the United States, France and Canada. Warsaw wants any resulting offer to bundle technology with investment financing and broader strategic cooperation, rather than treating the reactor contract as a stand-alone equipment purchase.

Advertisementthe daily energyAdvertise with The Daily EnergyThis space is available. Place your brand alongside our energy news and data in English, Turkish and Arabic.[email protected]View media kit

The programme’s timeline calls for selecting the strategic partner and technology in 2027, starting construction around 2032, and bringing the first EJ2 unit online around 2040. PEJ chief executive Marek Woszczyk said the company’s experience running administrative processes and stakeholder dialogue for the first plant would carry over to EJ2, while PGE chief executive Dariusz Lubera called the agreement an important step built on shared goals between the two state companies.

Built in the shadow of a delayed first plant

EJ2 is advancing alongside, not instead of, Poland’s first nuclear project at Lubiatowo-Kopalino in Choczewo municipality, where PEJ is building three AP1000 units with a combined capacity of 3,750 MWe. That project’s timeline has already slipped, with commercial operation now due in 2036 instead of the original target, and Poland only began ordering long-lead components for the first AP1000 reactor earlier this month, underlining how much engineering and procurement work remains even on the more advanced of the country’s two plants.

The government is nonetheless framing the second plant as an industrial opportunity as much as an energy one. Polish firms are estimated to capture roughly 40% of the construction value on the first reactor, a share officials want to push toward 70% on later units, spanning construction, steel, electromechanical, transport, logistics, industrial automation and engineering services. With EJ2’s site decision still two years away and financing terms undefined, Tuesday’s agreement is best read as an administrative foundation — allocating who does what — rather than a commitment of capital or a choice of reactor technology.