Poland eyes boost for nuclear energy in EU power market reform

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Poland has urged the European Union to use upcoming reforms to Europe’s electricity market to do more to support investments in nuclear energy, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The European Union is set to propose a power market upgrade next month, to attempt to avoid a repeat of last year when cuts to Russian gas supply sent European power prices soaring, since gas plants often set overall electricity prices in the current EU system.

“We must ensure a positive regulatory environment for investing in all zero- and low emission technologies. This is especially important for nuclear power projects,” Poland said in a paper shared with EU policymakers, adding that nuclear projects typically require high upfront investments.

The call from Warsaw comes as countries are squaring off over the role for nuclear energy in other EU policies. Negotiations this week on new EU renewable energy targets were cancelled amid a disagreement over whether to expand the targets to include hydrogen produced with nuclear power.

The low-carbon energy source is championed by EU countries including France, which has a large nuclear power fleet, and Poland, which plans to build reactors to help phase out coal. Germany and Austria are among its opponents, citing concerns over nuclear waste disposal and safety.

Poland said the EU should also make it easier for countries to launch electricity capacity mechanisms and temporarily lift an emissions limit – which could allow such schemes to support coal power.

In a capacity mechanism, a government pays power plants to guarantee they remain available to produce electricity when needed. Current EU rules only allow countries to do this as a last resort, and Brussels has raised concerns that the schemes may distort competition in energy markets.

The EU has said its upcoming reforms will aim to expand Europe’s use of long-term contracts that provide power plants with a fixed price for their electricity, to try to make energy bills more stable and less tied to volatile short-term markets. Poland said it would support expanding these types of contracts. (Reporting by Kate Abnett Editing by Tomasz Janowski)