Warsaw did not opt for the French EDF, nor the Korean competitor. Explanations.
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Poland says “yes” to the Westinghouse group for the first part of its nuclear project, which is estimated at more than forty billion euros. The Warsaw decision must be officially ratified during a Council of Ministers on Wednesday November 2, but the decision has already been taken. The United States was quick to react to congratulate itself on this very good catch in Europe. According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Washington is proud to be Poland’s strong energy and security partner. Which is not trivial in the current context.
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This decision sends a very clear message to Russia: via the United States, NATO is at work more than ever in Europe. The Atlantic Alliance is once again proving useful on the Old Continent to ensure and diversify its energy supply, and thus directly resist the Russian “militarization” of energy, to use the words of the American Secretary of Energy. , Jennifer Granholm. Poland had been planning for years to be able to produce nuclear energy for civilian purposes and the matter obviously became more urgent with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The choice of Warsaw is very political. A member of NATO since 1999, Poland is betting on the Americans to strengthen its security and its supply in the face of a divided European offer. Europe, nuclear power no longer has good press and Brussels is slow to agree the 27 Member States on its famous taxonomy, a codification and taxation of economic activities according to their impact on the environment.
Endless discussions, therefore, which have just played into the hands of the Americans, to the chagrin of EDF which, with its new generation EPR reactor, was betting on this Polish market to get the latest version off the ground. The French energy company, in the renationalisation phase, will have to wait for a next opportunity.