French energy giant EDF and its Polish counterpart PGE have signed a cooperation deal, PGE said on Wednesday as Poland launches a nuclear power drive.
In a statement, PGE said it had inked the accord with EDF on Tuesday.
The two groups have pledged to undertake feasibility studies for the construction in Poland of a new-generation EPR reactor, a system being developed by French nuclear group Areva.
PGE underlined that the cooperation deal did not grant EDF exclusivity in Poland's would-be nuclear power sector. It said it planned to sign similar accords with other players, but did not give details.
Earlier this year, coal-reliant Poland announced it aimed to turn to nuclear power, and plans have moved apace.
PGE aims by 2020 to build two plants, each with a planned capacity of 3,000 megawatts.
The Polish state owns the majority of PGE, which made its debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange two weeks ago, earning some six billion zloty (1.4 billion euros, 2.1 billion dollars).
Owning over 40 electricity and heating plants as well as two brown-coal mines, PGE became the largest company listed on the WSE and said its bourse debut was the biggest IPO in Europe this year.
The IPO came a day after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed after talks in Paris that the two countries would work together on Poland's nuclear programme.
Warsaw announced plans to develop a nuclear energy programme in a bid to diversify its energy sources, as a row between Russia and Ukraine halted gas supply to Europe. Poland imports around 40 percent of its gas from Russia.
Poland, which currently relies on coal-fired plants for 94 percent of its electricity, has also committed itself to easing its dependence on coal as part of the EU's climate package which limits greenhouse gas emissions.
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