energy resilience of the country. A proposal has been also raised to retrofit thermal plants in Poland by replacing their coal boilers with SMRs, while preserving their existing generation and distribution infrastructure, which would reduce upfront capital costs by 28-35% and avoid emissions of 200 billion tons of . 2020s PEJ Large Light Water Reactors Proposals In the late 2010s and early 2020s, a special purpose entity of Poland's largest energy group PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna known as EJ1 led the siting and development efforts for large light water reactors in Poland. In 2021, the functions of PGE EJ1 were transferred to a new state-owned entity, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), which was charged with developing 6 to 9GWe of proven, large-scale, Generation III(+) pressurized water reactors such as the AP1000, APR-1400, and EPR. It is 100% owned by the State Treasury. PEJ is conducting siting studies and planning for construction and operation of six 1-1.5 GWe reactors starting from 2026 with the planned completion of first reactor by 2033 and all of them connected to the grid by 2040 with total nameplate capacity of 6-9 GWe. The siting investigation conducted by PGE and PEJ included screening 92 potential locations before detailed studies were conducted two final candidate sties. Two sites in Pomorskie - Żarnowiec and Lubiatowo-Kopalino – were subject to more detailed scrutiny and the results published in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report submitted to the General Director for Environmental Protection on March 29, 2022. The EIA considered multiple reactors generating up to 3,750MWe at the site. On December 22, 2021, PEJ announced the preferred location for Poland's first commercial nuclear power plant as the Baltic Sea coastal commune of Choczewo in Wejherowo County, Pomeranian Voivodeship at a site called Lubiatowo-Kopalino. In October 2022, Poland announced that it had selected Westinghouse to build the first three-unit plant, with construction to start in 2026 and commissioning of the first reactor scheduled for 2033. A formal decision on a second three units is to be taken at a later date. 2020s Commercial Large Pressurized Water Reactors Proposals In October 2022, Polish utilities PGE and ZE PAK announced an agreement with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to explore building a number of APR-1400 reactors near ZE PAK's coal-fired plant at Pątnów. This development effort is led by private industry and is separate from (and in addition to) the government-led effort with PEJ.