The European Commission has approved support for nuclear energy. What does this mean for electricity prices in Poland?
— The future price of nuclear energy will be truly competitive – says Business Insider Polska, the government plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, Deputy Minister of Energy Wojciech Wrochna.
We asked what exactly the word “competitive” means.
The rest of the article is below the video
The government's plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, Wojciech Wrochna, headed the team that negotiated public aid for the nuclear power plant with the European Commission.
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Ministry of Energy / Ministry of Energy
What will be the price of nuclear energy
In the conversation about prices, the deputy minister emphasizes that the key fact is that “nuclear is a zero-emission and disposable source, which means that there is no need to build additional security in the form of additional generating capacity, as, for example, in the case of renewable energy“.
As he points out, in the case of, for example, offshore (wind farms at sea), “at least several dozen zlotys for the capacity market” should be added to the cost. The capacity market solution is used by conventional power plants, which are paid on standby to supply electricity when renewable sources do not produce it.
According to Wrochna, The decision of the European Commission shows that the price of electricity from the first Polish nuclear power plant will be below PLN 500. This is lower than the price of electricity from offshore, i.e. PLN 512 per megawatt hour.
As Minister Wrochna explains, this is the price according to today's realities, so it will be adjusted, among other things, by the inflation rateas is the case with other sources, e.g. offshore.
Wrochna also draws attention to the record speed in which the European Commission decided to approve state aid for the first Polish nuclear power plant. — In the case of Poland, it took 12 months to make a decision, and in the Czech Republic – 22 months, he says.
When will the Polish nuclear power plant be built?
According to the declaration of Prime Minister Donald Tusk later this year, the first PLN 4.6 billion from the available pool of PLN 60.2 billion in treasury securities will go to Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, which is the investor of the power plant. In total, the investment cost is estimated at approximately PLN 192 billion. The State Treasury is to provide a 100% guarantee. debt financing.
Construction is scheduled to start in 2028, and the first electricity from the power plant is expected to flow in 2036.
On Tuesday, the European Commission agreed to state aid for the first Polish nuclear power plant in Lubiatów-Kopalina, Pomerania. This will enable the payment of PLN 60.2 billion from the state budget for its construction.
