Poland will build port for nuclear power plant
By Marek Grzybowski
An agreement regarding the multi-sector project Marine Off-Loading Facility “MOLF”, which is an element of the infrastructure accompanying the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino location, was signed in the presence of Dariusz Klimczak, Minister of Infrastructure, and Arkadiusz Marchewka, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, on Tuesday, August 27 this year.
Construction of the nuclear power plant at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino location will begin in 2028. Poland plans to build two nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 6-9 GW. First reactor to be launched in 2035.
The investor and operator of the power plant is Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, and the contractor is the American consortium Westinghouse-Bechtel. The investment will be financed partly from own funds, the remaining funds will be provided by debt financing, among others, from the American bank EXIM. The cost of the nuclear power plants has been initially estimated at PLN 150 billion (US$ 44 billion),
The first nuclear power plant will be built near the Baltic Sea coast in Lubiatowo, 1.5 hours west of Gdansk. The infrastructure necessary for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland in Lubiatowo is the hydrotechnical infrastructure. A quay will be built, which will serve as a place for unloading components transported by sea water.
Marine Off-Loading Facility “MOLF” will be a pier 1 km long, 15 meters wide and 5 m high above sea level. The Maritime Office in Gdynia is the investor on behalf of the Polish state. The project will cost over PLN 6 million. The pier will cost almost one billion zlotys (350 million US dollars).
Polish companies Wuprohyd and Ingeo will design the hydrotechnical infrastructure. The pier will have an openwork structure. The pier will be used to unload oversized and large-tonnage cargo. The pier will be connected to the nuclear power plant construction site by a technical road. An analysis of the hydrodynamic conditions for mooring ships and unloading oversized cargo will be carried out. A navigational analysis will be developed with a simulation of the vessel’s approach to the pier.
The contract for the design of the pier and related works was signed by the director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia, Anna Stelmaszyk-Świerczyńska, and Piotr Cieślak, president of Wuprohyd.
– We are starting construction of a nuclear power plant. The Ministry of Infrastructure is responsible for three areas of operation: maritime infrastructure, rail infrastructure and road infrastructure – said Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak, who was present at the signing of the agreement. The Maritime Office in Gdynia, on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure, is responsible for the contract to design the structure of the sea pier necessary for the construction of the nuclear power plant.
About 200 deliveries of the most important, key elements for the construction of the nuclear power plant will reach the construction site of the nuclear power plant – said Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Arkadiusz Marchewka, responsible for maritime economy and inland navigation. „We will take care of local content. Many local companies, many Polish enterprises will be involved in this large project” – emphasized Deputy Minister Marchewka.
The designed construction solutions will have to take into account the results of the navigation analysis with the simulation of the units’ approach and the hydrometeorological and operational parameters. According to the schedule, the pier structure is planned to be put into service in 2028.