The Economist: Polish Energy - Going Nuclear

Tuesday, 04 February 2014 10:46 administrator
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Excerpt: "DONALD TUSK, the prime minister, and his cabinet finally adopted the Polish nuclear power programme on January 28th, giving the green light to construction of the country's first nuclear-power plant. A state-owned energy company, PGE, is managing the project, which will cost an estimated 40-60 billion zloty ($13-19 billion).....The government wants the first plant, capable of producing 3,000 megawatts of electricity per year, to be operational by 2024. The programme outlines plans to build a second plant by 2035.....Mr Tusk’s government first signalled its commitment to develop a nuclear energy programme in 2009, with the publication of a plan to diversify the country’s energy mix. It estimates that nuclear energy will supply 17% of the country’s electricity by 2030. Currently, hard coal and lignite are used to produce roughly 88% of the electrical grid. Dependence on Russian gas imports, and pressure from Brussels to reduce carbon emissions by 2020 beyond the 20% level previously already agreed, have pushed the government to look for alternatives." Source.