Poland will only be able to keep financing its coal-fired generating units if a new capacity market law is passed in time, Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka has said, pointing to an imminent state aid decision in Brussels. Speaking at the Energy Days conference in Katowice, he argued that the country needs a „pragmatic transformation” that keeps coal production running while nuclear and other technologies mature.
The government has adopted an updated Polish Nuclear Power Programme (PPEJ), which assumes between 6 GW and 9 GW of nuclear capacity. According to Motyka, the cabinet „does not differentiate technologies” in those targets, and the future shape of the nuclear programme will be dictated by the price of electricity from individual sources.
– I want the projects that are cheaper to develop in Poland – the energy minister said.
He stressed that small modular reactors (SMRs) have a prominent place in the plan.
– We are counting heavily on small modular nuclear reactors and we are including them in the plan as well. We are giving ourselves technological margin and we want to be a country that develops SMRs – said Motyka, noting that for the time being there are no plans to build three large-scale nuclear power plants in Poland.
– I want the projects that are cheaper to develop in Poland. If renewable sources combined with energy storage guarantee a lower energy price, then that is good. If energy demand grows radically, SMRs may be the answer – the head of the energy ministry said.
– Just a few years ago, hardly anyone realised how much the cost of energy storage technology would fall. That is changing very fast – he added.
SMR cooperation under negotiation
The small reactor project in Poland is being developed by Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE). Talks between Orlen and SGE are currently under way to structure their cooperation inside OSGE, the company behind a planned fleet of SMRs based on GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 technology.
Motyka confirmed that he would like a second public entity, the Polish Development Fund (PFR), to join the nuclear venture. PFR would stabilise the demanding cooperation between the private Synthos (SGE) and the state-controlled Orlen, and would strengthen the state’s role in the project.
– I am hoping for a happy ending to those talks – the minister said.
He added that the government is not discussing the creation of a special purpose vehicle that would compete with OSGE by deploying SMRs in a technology other than BWRX-300.
Coal, gas and the capacity market
Before electricity from nuclear reaches the grid, Poland’s energy mix has to rely on the fuels it already uses. High gas prices are intensifying the debate about the growing role of gas-fired generation and how it competes on cost with domestically mined and burned coal.
In the context of maintaining coal production, Motyka underlined that Poland needs a „pragmatic transformation”.
– We see that over the next 10 years the approach to coal will be more pragmatic – said the energy minister.
Securing capacity market funding for coal units requires the new law, and its passage depends on the European Commission’s consent for state aid.
– We are on the eve of a decision in Brussels. We have positive signals. The law will be on time – Motyka declared.
Źródło: WNP.pl, Fot. WNP.pl
