SGE and ZE PAK form a joint venture for up to six BWRX-300 reactors at the Pątnów coal site

Serguey Asael Shinder16 October 2026, 14:122 min read

Polish developer SGE (formerly Synthos Green Energy) and the power producer ZE PAK have agreed to set up a joint venture to develop a nuclear power plant at Pątnów with up to six GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactors, World Nuclear News reported on 15 October. Six units would give the plant a capacity of 1,800 MWe.

A coal site turned nuclear. The project would repurpose an existing coal-fired plant owned by ZE PAK near Konin. ZE PAK's contribution, according to the company, consists of rights to land it owns, brought into the joint venture. In later years it will have the option either to remain as a minority shareholder or to sell its shares in the project company to SGE and leave the project.

What the partners say. SGE founder Michał Sołowow called Pątnów one of the most strategically important locations in Poland's energy system: the coal plant will have to close, he said, and without a reliable replacement its closure could disrupt grid operations. ZE PAK president Piotr Żak described the agreement as an opportunity for the Konin area and said the energy and fuel crises of recent years had shown that Poland needs reliable domestic sources of electricity. ZE PAK also said that large reactors should be built by the state, while SMR technology can be developed by private companies such as SGE.

SGE's wider pipeline. In Poland, SGE already holds a decision in principle for a total of 26 BWRX-300 units. In the UK, a proposal for a fleet of 14 BWRX-300s across three sites is being considered under the Advanced Nuclear Framework. SGE is a co-investor in the BWRX-300 standard design.

Where the design stands. The first BWRX-300 is under construction in Canada, and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a construction permit for the first unit at the Clinch River site in Tennessee. The design has also been selected for projects by SaskPower in Canada, Blue Energy in the US and Studsvik in Sweden, the report says. The agreement announced now establishes the joint venture; no construction date or investment figure for Pątnów is given.

Source: World Nuclear News — https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/joint-venture-formed-for-six-unit-smr-plant-in-poland