Poland - World Nuclear Outlook Report

Projection of future nuclear capacity in Poland

A four-unit VVER-440 plant at Żarnowiec in the north of Poland was under construction in the 1980s, but the project was cancelled in 1990.

In 2009, the Polish government decided to initiate a new nuclear power programme in the country.²²² In Energy Policy of Poland until 2040 (EPP2040), adopted in 2021, Poland planned to bring its first unit online by 2033, and subsequent units every 2-3 years, leading to the construction a total capacity of 6-9 GWe by 2043.²²³

New capacity

Large-scale reactors

At the end of October 2022 the Polish government announced that Westinghouse had been chosen to build the country’s first nuclear plant using AP1000 technology with a total capacity of 3750 MWe.²²⁴

A permit for preparatory works at Lubiatowo-Kopalino was issued to Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe in September 2025. Construction is due to begin in 2026, with commissioning of the first unit planned for 2033.²²⁵

Polish companies ZE PAK and Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE), and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) signed a letter of intent in October 2022 on preparing a plan to build the second nuclear power plant in Pątnów, using Korea’s APR1400 technology.²²⁶ A joint venture by PAK and PGE, PGE PAK Energia Jądrowa, submitted an application for the plant to the government in August 2023 and got a decision-in-principle approval in November 2023²²⁷. However, KHNP withdrew from the project in August 2025.²²⁸

Small-scale reactors

In February 2022, Polish copper and silver producer KGHM signed an agreement with NuScale Power to initiate work towards deploying a first NuScale VOYGR SMR power plant in Poland as early as 2029. KGHM lodged an application in April 2023 and received the decision-in-principle from the government in July.

The VOYGR plant, which would have a total capacity of 462 MWe, would consist of six 77 MWe NuScale modules.

In December 2021, GE Hitachi, BWXT Canada and Synthos Green Energy (SGE) signed a letter of intent to cooperate in deploying BWRX-300 reactors in Poland. In December 2023, Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) – a joint venture between chemical producers SGE and PKN Orlen – received decisions-in-principle on the construction of SMR plants from the Poland Ministry of Climate and Environment.

The OSGE SMR plan includes 24 BWRX-300 reactors at six different locations – a total capacity of the project 7.2 GWe. The goal of OSGE is to deploy the first SMR in Poland before the end of the 2020s²²⁹. In August 2025 it was announced that the first site would be in Włocławek, in central Poland.²

In 2023 Poland state-owned Industria – part of Industrial Development Agency JSC (IDA) – selected Rolls-Royce SMR technology to produce 50,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen every year. The application for a decision-in-principle regarding this Central Hydrogen Cluster project was approved by the Polish Climate and Environment Minister in May 2024.²³¹