World Bank support for Polish nuclear energy. Domański in Washington

Finance Minister Andrzej Domański told PAP that he talked on Thursday with the US Minister of Energy about the development of small modular reactors, LNG supplies and work on the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland. The talks between BGK representatives concerned the World Bank's support for Polish nuclear energy.

Domański met with US Minister of Energy Chris Wright on the occasion of his visit to Washington during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. As he said, the topics of the talks included nuclear energy – both work on the construction of the first large nuclear power plant in Poland, as well as small modular reactors (SMR), a relatively new technology.

– The United States is our key ally and partner in implementing strategic energy projects. We discussed the progress of work on the implementation of the project to build the first nuclear power plant, emphasizing the need to include Polish enterprises in it and strengthen the competences of the domestic industry, said the head of the Ministry of Finance. – We talked about the importance of supplies of American LNG to Poland and the entire region. We agreed on further actions to tighten cooperation in this area. We agreed on the prospects for the development of small modular reactor technology, in which we see promising opportunities for cooperation between Polish and American companies, he added.

Domański: Iinvestments in clean energy sources increase the competitiveness of the Polish economy

Plans to build SMR reactors in Poland to power industry have been talked about for several years. In August, Orlen and Synthos Green Energy signed an agreement on the construction of such reactors in Włocławek. As part of the project, an SMR fleet will be built based on the American technology of GE Vernova.

Domański emphasized that investments in clean energy sources increase the competitiveness of the Polish economy and at the same time are “a guarantee of our security, which we want to strengthen, among others, by deepening our partnership with the USA.”

Nuclear energy was also the topic of talks in Washington between representatives of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego – president Mirosław Czekaj and member of the management board Mateusz Szczurek – with Anna Akhalkatsi, director of the World Bank for the European Union. The talks concerned the possibility of World Bank support for financing nuclear energy projects in Poland. According to BGK, the World Bank has expressed interest in this topic. Czekaj told PAP that the construction of the power plant is a huge investment project, and BGK is looking for various possibilities to finance the construction of the first power plant, and it was in this context that he held talks with representatives of the World Bank.

– However, BGK's share in this investment will depend on the assessment of the final business and financial model – he noted.

– As a development bank, we are interested in implementing this key investment for the Polish state, which will primarily increase the energy security of our country. According to the Prime Minister's announcements, the first nuclear power plant could serve up to 12 million households, which shows the scale of this project – he emphasized. – We are also interested in supporting Polish entrepreneurs who can take part in the construction of the power plant. I believe that their share in this investment should be as large as possible – added the president of BGK.

The World Bank Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed an agreement in June to cooperate to support nuclear energy in developing countries. The partnership agreement represents the Bank's first concrete step towards re-engaging in nuclear energy. According to the agreement, the IAEA and the World Bank are to cooperate on, among others: extending the service life of existing nuclear reactors and accelerating the development of SMRs.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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