GE Plans ‘Aggressive’ Bid to Build Poland’s First Nuclear Plant
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Ltd. said its planned bid to build Poland’s first nuclear power plant will benefit from a project in neighboring Lithuania, allowing it to reduce costs and share materials.
GE-Hitachi is preparing for negotiations with PGE SA, Poland’s largest utility, which will seek a partner to build as much as 3,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity, after Lithuania chose the Wilmington, North Carolina-based company last month to build a replacement for a Soviet-era reactor.
The Lithuanian project, GE’s record of on-time delivery and its presence in Poland should give it a competitive edge against rivals that may include Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC and France’s Areva SA, according to Daniel L. Roderick, senior vice president of nuclear plant projects.
“We will be very aggressive about our bid,” Roderick said in an interview in Warsaw on July 28. “Running two projects at the same time close to each other could help us reduce costs. Also, a lot of the workforce and materials for the Lithuanian plant will come from Poland,” he said.
Germany’s decision to give up atomic energy, which accounts for some 23 percent of the country’s total generation capacity will affect the bidding process, Roderick said. Electricity prices in Europe may rise as the continent’s largest economy has to import power.
“We can deliver a competitive price for the Polish plant in the current market” even without taking into account the expected price increase from the German decision, Roderick said.
Poland can still meet its deadline for the first nuclear reactor to come on line by the end of 2020 if it chooses the builder by 2014, Roderick said.
“We’ve seen great progress by PGE in establishment of the bidding process in the last six months and we’re very positive about it,” he said.
GE Hitachi will attend PGE’s so-called engagement conference, which the Polish utility will organize for potential bidders in September. Roderick says he expects an official tender to be announced “a few weeks” later and the winner to be picked in 18 to 24 months.
To contact the reporter on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
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