Poland’s National Centre for Nuclear Research has secured an 85 million zloty (about €20 million) loan from the European Investment Bank to build new facilities linked to the country’s only nuclear research reactor, while a separate agreement will provide advisory support for potential hydropower projects in southern Poland.
The loan will fund scientific infrastructure at the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ), including a new neutron laboratory — the MNL Maria Neutron Laboratory — to be built next to the MARIA research reactor, the European Investment Bank announced on Thursday.
Neutrons are used in materials research to examine the structure of substances, including those used in energy technologies.
The financing will also support the NOMATEN CoRE programme, focused on materials designed to withstand extreme operating conditions in industries such as energy and chemicals, and upgrades to the Polish Free Electron Laser (PolFEL 1.1), a research tool used to study very fast changes in matter.
The combined cost of the three NCBJ projects is expected to exceed 460 million zloty, with additional co-financing coming from Poland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
“The foundations of industrial strength and competitive edge are laid in laboratories that give leading scientists access to state-of-the-art equipment,” EIB vice-president Marko Primorac stated.
Hydropower plans in Silesia and Lesser Poland
Separately, the EIB’s advisory arm has agreed to support Poland’s state water holding company Wody Polskie with analysis of major hydropower investments in the regions of Silesia and Lesser Poland.
Under the TARGET programme, Wody Polskie will receive technical, financial and environmental assistance relating to three potential sites for new hydropower plants to be built on existing water steps. The co-operation is due to run for two years.
“The TARGET programme gives us access to top-tier technical, environmental, and economic expertise,” Wody Polskie president Mateusz Balcerowicz said.
The European Investment Bank described TARGET as a joint European Commission — EIB technical assistance facility designed to help EU coal, peat and oil shale regions identify and prepare clean energy and energy efficiency projects.
