Services agreement paves way for Canadian-Polish SMR collaboration

SMR service provider Laurentis is a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), and offers expertise on the full development lifecycle of nuclear facilities from feasibility and planning through to construction, commissioning, and operations. Synthos Green Energy is part of the Synthos group, owned by Polish private investor and industrialist Michał Sołowow.

OPG announced in December 2021 that it would work with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to deploy a BWRX-300 SMR at its Darlington site, with the goal of constructing Canada's first commercial, grid-scale SMR as early as 2028. The same month, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, BWXT Canada, and Synthos Green Energy announced their intention to support the deployment of SMRs in Poland, and in July this year Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) - a joint venture between Synthos Green Energy and PKN Orlen - applied to Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency (Państwowa Agencja Atomistyki) for the assessment of BWRX-300 SMR technology. OSGE plans to deploy a fleet of BWRX-300 SMRs in Poland, aiming for the first one to be in operation by the end of this decade.

The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Climate and Environment in Poland after a meeting between Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith and Polish Undersecretary of State Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński.

"This agreement is proof the world is looking to Ontario as a leader in clean energy and new nuclear technologies - like SMRs - that can provide tremendous economic and environmental opportunities," Smith said.

"The fact that the BWRX-300 technology has been chosen by experienced utilities from Canada – the country with decades of experience in nuclear business - confirms that we have made the right decisions and that we are on the right track," Synthos Green Energy CEO Rafał Kasprów said. "Working with Canadian entities, such as Laurentis Energy Partners, will allow us to learn from the first planned BWRX-300 deployments in the world, to accelerate project development in Poland."

The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GE Hitachi's US Nuclear Regulatory Commission-certified ESBWR boiling water reactor design.