The companies KGHM Polska Miedź and Tauron Polska Energia signed a letter of intent regarding cooperation in the construction of low-emission energy sources. The cooperation also includes small modular nuclear reactors (SMR). In the future, the partners will consider also other investment projects that use low-carbon energy sources.
President of KGHM Marcin Chludziński after signing the letter of intent, which took place during the Togetair 2022 Climate Summit in Warsaw said that small nuclear reactors are the only competitive answer to today’s needs. “Currently, we are officially starting cooperation related to the use of these technologies, the exchange of information, and the creation of a favorable legal environment for the development of SMR in Poland”, said Marcin Chludziński.
At the beginning of 2022, KGHM concluded an agreement with the American company NuScale for the implementation of SMR technology in Poland. It provides for the development and construction of a nuclear power plant containing at least 6 small modular SMR nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 462 MWe, with an option to enhance it up to 12. The first phase of the investment will be completed by 2029.
Tauron, the largest energy distributor in Poland, is also planning the change of the company’s generation sources, based mainly on fossil fuels, into zero-emission solutions. By 2025, the Tauron group is planning to operate 1,600 MW of installed capacity of renewable energy sources. Currently, the company has nine wind power plants with a total capacity of over 380 MW, 34 hydropower plants with a capacity of 132 MW and three photovoltaic power plants with a capacity of 19 MW.
“Tauron is continuing to realize the assumptions of the Green Phase, i.e. the transformation plan towards clean energy sources, and among non-emission sources, only SMR are weather-independent. We put great hopes in the application of this technology in the energy, heating and industry sectors”, emphasized Paweł Szczeszek, the president of the company.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński