GdF Suez unit to build new power plant in Poland
Electrabel Polska, a unit of French energy company GdF Suez, is to build a gas-fired power station in Poland, which
is striving to reduce its reliance on coal, authorities said.
Monika Budzeniusz, an official in Wloclawek, 120 km from Warsaw, told that Electrabel Polska had bought a site there
for the planned 900-MW plant. The construction of the plant -- due to last two years -- is expected to cost a total
of 2.0 bn zloty ($ 706 mm).
The Polish gas group PGNiG said it was also involved and had further moves in its sights.
"We are interested in all projects that could increase gas consumption in Poland," said PGNiG's spokeswoman Joanna
Zakrzewska.
Poland, a former communist nation of 38 mm citizens that joined the European Union in 2004, has rich coal reserves.
It is also one of the world's most coal-dependent counties, relying on the fossil fuel to generate more than 90 % of
its electricity, and is trying to widen its power sources.
Besides boosting use of gas, it also plans to open its first-ever nuclear power plant by 2020.
