Primary Preconditions of Benefits from the Construction of Nuclear Power Plants in Poland

Purpose: This paper synthesises the current state of the Polish power engineering sector, the process of developing nuclear power plants (henceforth, “NPPs”) and the primary preconditions to consider when formulating contracts for NPP construction projects. Design/methodology/approach: In consideration of future economic growth of the country and its energy security, in 2005 the central government decided to start building NPPs in Poland. However, it was only at the end of 2022 that letters of intent were signed with two contractors for NPP construction (Westinghouse of the USA Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power of South Korea). Findings: The critical conclusions from this paper follow: Poland is stricken by a high degree of decapitalisation of assets in the power engineering sector. Legacy power plants do not only pose a high risk of high failure rates, their performance efficiency is low, which drives the costs and, ultimately, the pricing of electrical power. The Polish government assumes the following breakdown of shares and funding for the NPP projects: 51% with the State Treasury and 49% with a foreign developer. Practical implications: The positive effects on the economy from the construction of NPPs will be achieved if the contracts for NPP projects are properly formulated – limiting the risks that the project developers will want to pass on to the Polish public in the contracts. It will be especially important to establish in the NPP project contracts the conditions that contribute to an increase of NPP construction, protraction of implementation time, and the precise procedure for the NPP construction driving the price of electrical power.