Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) from the United Arab Emirates have entered into an agreement on cooperation around projects to build BWRX-300 type SMR reactors in Europe.

The agreement was signed in London by ENEC President and CEO Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi and OSGE CEO Rafał Kasprów. The agreement aims to develop principles of cooperation to enable the development of SMRs based on BWRX-300 technology in Poland, the UK and Central and Eastern Europe.

“The collaboration aims to leverage ENEC’s experience with the Barakah power plant, which was built on time and within budget. It also opens the way for cooperation on financing the construction of BWRX-300 reactors”, announces the OSGE.

OSGE president Rafal Kasprów pointed out that ENEC has experience in building nuclear power plants according to the highest safety and quality standards of the nuclear industry and delivers projects on time and within budget. President Kasprów expressed his satisfaction that ENEC has recognised the development of SMRs as important for the future of nuclear power.

By 2030, Orlen Synthos Green Energy, co-owned by Polish multienergy company Orlen, is expected to build at least one SMR unit using BWRX-300 technology, which will be the second of its kind in the world, after Canada’s Darlington. The company has exclusive rights to this technology in Poland.

The first BWRX-300 SMR is planned to be built at the Darlington nuclear power plant in the Canadian province of Ontario, with construction to be completed in 2028. OSGE is planning to build several BWRX-300 reactors in Poland. The company has so far identified seven potential sites including Stawy Monowskie near Oświęcim, Włocławek, Ostrołęka, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Nowa Huta, the Tarnobrzeg – Stalowa Wola Special Economic Zone and the Warsaw area.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński