At 5,030 MW, Bełchatów in Poland is EU’s largest and highest emitting coal-fired power plant constituting around 15% of the installed capacity of Poland’s commercial power generation industry. The plant is operated by PGE Capital Group, who are the largest energy sector company in Poland. It is currently scheduled to close by 2036, which would drastically impact 20,000 people who are currently employed there. PGE and 30 trade union organisations from the Bełchatów mines and power plant are in talks with the State Assets Ministry to propose constructing Poland’s second nuclear power plant on the site.

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PGE CEO Dariusz Marzec has said that “𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦ł𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥.”

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‍Lukasz Bartela, leader of the DEsire - Platforma Transformacji Energetyki team during a conference at the Polish Senate on October 18 this year, stressed that locating the next Polish nuclear investment in Bełchatów is something PGE should strive for. Reusing the existing power grid, road and rail transport network, existing coal-firing infrastructure, and the engineering and technical expertise of the local staff would enable the continuation of energy activity in the region for decades to come.

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PGE GiEK CEO, Jacek Kaczorowski said that the future of the Bełchatów complex may be focused on renewable and nuclear energy. "𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦".

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If this bid proves successful, this would be a massive coal-to-nuclear Repowering project, supporting Poland’s journey to decarbonisation with a potential reduction of 27 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.