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Orlen SAPolish energy min. sees no more obstacles to SMR project carried out jointly by Orlen and Synthos
There are now no obstacles to the implementation of the SMR project by Poland's largest energy concern Orlen and Synthos, belonging to Polish billionaire Michal Solowow, energy Minister Milosz Motyka told a conference, when asked to comment on the new agreement between the companies. He added that the agreement shows that state-owned companies also have the right to this technology.
Motyka noted that until now, the ownership structure under the Orlen-Synthos agreement had been disorganised, to the detriment of the state's interests.
"This is a fundamental difference, because until now, unfortunately, this ownership structure had been disorganised. And the authorities under our predecessors also had certain doubts about it. We said we would put it in order, and we did," Motyka said.
Poland's energy minister added that there are now no obstacles to implementing this project.
"This shows that this technology can be used safely in Poland, and finally - that state-owned companies also have the right to this technology (...)," he noted at a joint conference with climate minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska.
Hennig-Kloska added that the technology available to Orlen-Synthos is one of those that could be commercialised first, where small nuclear reactors could begin to be built.
"And this is the path to decarbonising our economy, so it will strengthen the goals and actions of the entire country," she added.
Orlen announced on Thursday that it had successfully concluded negotiations on the operation of the special purpose vehicle Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE), and that the agreement with Synthos paves the way for real action, which will result in the construction of Poland's first SMR nuclear power plant at a location indicated by Orlen in Wloclawek.
On Wednesday, PAP reported that Orlen and Synthos had agreed on a new model for the operation of OSGE, which was established for the purpose of joint investments in SMR nuclear reactors.
OSGE plans to build a whole fleet of GE Vernova-Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors in Poland. The first locations indicated in Poland are Stawy Monowskie near Oswiecim, Wloclawek and Ostroleka. Environmental decision-making proceedings are underway for these locations. Orlen's strategy assumes that it will have two BWRX-300 units by 2035.
The BWRX-300 belongs to the boiling water reactor (BWR) family. At the same time, due to its relatively low power – 300 MWe – it is classified as a small modular reactor. The first such reactor is being built for OPG at the Darlington nuclear power plant in Canada.
Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) is the renewables SPV owned in half by Poland's largest energy concern Orlen and in the other half by Synthos concern belonging to Polish billionaire Michal Solowow.
jz/ ao/
