SGE raises PLN500m from Polish business owners for its BWRX-300 small reactor plans
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readSGE, the Polish developer formerly called Synthos Green Energy, has raised PLN500 million (about $128 million) from a group of Polish business owners for its plans to build fleets of GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactors in Poland, the UK and elsewhere in Europe, World Nuclear News reported on 2 October.
Who is putting in money. The investors named include Rafał Brzoska, chief executive of the parcel-locker company InPost; Krzysztof Pawiński and Marta Pawińska of the Silesia House Family Foundation; Michał Wypychewicz of Koronea Family Office; Dariusz Gałęzewski and Dominik Doliński, co-founders of the drinks maker OSHEE; Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, co-founders of the AI voice company ElevenLabs; Michał Brański, co-owner of Wirtualna Polska Holding; and Bruno Wejchert of Strike Capital. SGE founder Michał Sołowow said the strongest validation of a project of this scale is a decision to commit one's own capital, not a declaration of support.
How SGE wants to pay for reactors. Sołowow said the company plans to finance its nuclear projects privately, with a contract for difference setting a guaranteed price for the electricity, and that it has secured PLN1.35 billion in equity commitments from international investors in addition to the new Polish money.
Where the projects stand. In Poland a decision in principle has been issued for 26 BWRX-300 units. In the UK, SGE has proposed a fleet of 14 across three sites, which is being considered under the government's Advanced Nuclear Framework. Last month SGE signed an agreement with GE Vernova, Hitachi and Samsung C&T to cooperate on deploying the design in Europe. The first BWRX-300 is being built in Canada, and the first US construction permit for one was issued this week at Clinch River. The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe boiling water reactor with natural circulation and passive safety systems, derived from the NRC-certified ESBWR.
What it means
The sums are small against the cost of a reactor fleet, but the source matters. SGE's model avoids state ownership and relies on private equity plus a price guarantee, so the test is whether it can keep adding capital before any contract for difference is agreed. Equity from well-known domestic founders is a signal aimed at that test, and at the government that would have to sign the contract.