(Bloomberg) -- Poland chose US-based Westinghouse Electric Co. to build its first nuclear power plant, tightening relations with Washington in the wake of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The decision is also set to help Poland, the European Union’s most coal-dependent country, curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Westinghouse competed against Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. and Electricite de France SA for the deal, which was announced late on Friday by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
The deal will be for the first three reactors and there’s an expectation that eventually Poland will build six AP1000-type reactors with a formal decision at a later date, according to a senior US government official, who declined to be named because the talks are private. A formal agreement will be signed on Wednesday, according to Morawiecki.
“Together, we will strengthen our bilateral relationship and Poland’s energy security for generations to come,” Mark Brzezinski, the US Ambassador to Poland, said on Twitter.
After years of deliberation, NATO-member Poland is seeking to start its first nuclear reactor as soon as 2033 as part of a plan to build between 6 and 9 gigawatt of capacity. The government has identified Choczewo near the Baltic Sea as the site of an initial three-reactor plant.
Poland has also been buying US military equipment to beef up its defense capability in the face of war in Ukraine.
“This decision on the part of Poland not only strengthens our bilateral relationship with Poland on energy security for generations to come, but I think sends a clear message to Russia that the Atlantic Alliance stands together,” US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in remarks at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference in Washington.
The deal will help “resist Russian weaponization of energy,” she said.
Nuclear power will provide stable electricity generation for Poland, which is also planning to construct offshore wind farms and invest in solar energy in its goal to reach the EU’s goal for zero-net emissions by 2050. Six reactors will help Poland save 54 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to a senior US official.
Vice President Kamala Harris praised the deal on Friday, remarking on Twitter that in conversations with Morawiecki, “I made clear that US partnership on this project is advantageous for us all: we can address the climate crisis, strengthen European energy security, and deepen the US-Poland strategic relationship.”
--With assistance from Piotr Bujnicki, Konrad Krasuski, Natalia Ojewska and Ari Natter.
(Updates with Harris tweet, in final paragraph.)
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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