The construction of the first nuclear power plant of Poland is about to begin now after the European Commission approved the request from Warsaw so as to allocate 60 billion zloty, which is equivalent to €14.2 billion, in state aid for the project.
The decision, which by the way was pretty widely expected, has been welcomed by Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, who told a cabinet meeting that it means that construction is now going to be able to commence immediately, which is as early as in December 2026 itself.
Interestingly, the nuclear power station, which is going to have a capacity of almost 3.75 gigawatts – GW, is to be built on the northern Baltic Sea coast of Poland. It is forecasted to begin its operations in the second half of the 2030s.
Although the EU member states are free to decide upon the composition of their energy mix, state aid has to get the approval of the European Commission, which evaluates whether at all, it is necessary, proportionate, and does not unduly distort the conditions of the market.
Announcing its decision on construction of the first nuclear power plant of Poland on December 09, 2025, the European Commission went on to say that Poland had indeed demonstrated measures so as to meet these requirements, which included shortening the period when it comes to direct price support from 60 to 40 years and making sure that any profits beyond what is essential to achieve a market rate go on to get shared with the state.
The commission has also noted that the nuclear project goes on to play a central role in the strategy to decarbonize electricity production across Poland. At present more than 50% of the electricity in Poland gets generated through coal, which, by the way, is the highest proportion across the EU; however, Warsaw is looking to shift towards nuclear as well as renewables.
It is well to be noted that the 60 billion zloty, which is to be spent on the project between 2025 and 2030, is going to cover almost 30% of its complete estimated expenditures, with the remainder to be financed by way of borrowing from financial institutions, especially foreign. State guarantees are also going to cover 100% of the debt taken in order to finance the project.
Among the entities that have already pledged financing are the United States International Development Finance Corporation – DFC as well as the Export-Import Bank of the U.S.
Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe – PEJ, which is the Polish state firm, has been given the task to build the plant, working with a consortium that is made up of Westinghouse, which is providing the technology, and also Bechtel, which is offering construction contracting, both of which are from the U.S.
Marek Woszczyk, the CEO of PEJ, welcomed the decision of the commission, stating that all of this now paves the way for the signing of a contract for the construction of the power plant in the American consortium.
Woszczyk went on to note that the state support for the project is indeed one of the largest, if not the largest, with individual aid packages in the history of the EU.
The expenditure had been originally approved in September 2024 by the Tusk government and apparently was adopted by parliament in February 2025 and thereafter signed into law by Andrzej Duda, the then-president, in March 2025.
Interestingly, nuclear energy enjoys quite wide public support in Poland, with polls showcasing backing that ranges from 64% to 92.5%. It is also an issue on which there is quite a rare consensus throughout the otherwise highly polarized political spectrum of Poland.
Notably, the work towards the plant has taken place under both the former Law and Justice – PiS government as well as the current Tusk ruling coalition. As per the Polish Nuclear Power Programme – PPEJ of the government, there is also a second nuclear plant that is planned. The overall combined capacity of both the plants is going to fall anywhere between 6 and 9 GW.
In 2024, almost 57% of the power in Poland was generated through coal, which by far is the highest share across Europe. In 2023, the former PiS government went on to outline its plans for almost 51% of electricity to come from renewables and 23% from nuclear by 2040.
The fact is that the Tusk government has pledged to go ahead and even speed up that energy transition, although it has thus far made only a limited amount of progress.