"The plan is to have at least two of them – the first one by 2020 and the next one three or four years later," Wozniak told a conference organised by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) in Brussels on Thursday (5 February).
The policy shift represented the first visible sign that tougher EU rules on carbon dioxide emissions, adopted in December, are forcing the country to reconsider its energy mix in favour of less polluting sources.
Poland came under the spotlight last year for resisting EU plans to cut the bloc's carbon dioxide emissions by a quarter by 2020. But the target was finally approved and, with the country depending on coal for 95% of its electricity, the pressure is piling on Warsaw to switch to low-carbon energy sources.
"One of the consequences of the EU's energy and climate package is that we have to change our basket of electricity sources and one of them is nuclear," Wozniak told EurActiv on the sidelines of the conference.
"We've been standing out of nuclear for many years. We tried to move to nuclear in the 1980s but then [the Chernobyl nuclear incident] came and so we quit this programme. Now we are going back," Wozniak said.
The government outlined an energy security action plan for Poland in January, of which the move to nuclear forms an essential part. Other key elements include the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Baltic Sea port of Swinoujscie and an increase in gas storage capacity and interconnections, which will be part-funded by the EU.
Wozniak, however, refused to comment as to what technologies would be selected for the nuclear reactors. "It is not decided yet. We have a very wide spectrum of possibilities and we are assessing them."
"The leader in this project, which is PGE, the Polish energy group, will look for the financial and know-how partners. The full programme with the location and partners will be published in June or July," Wozniak added.
To be sure, he said, the two new power plants are expected to reduce the country's reliance on coal. "I believe these two new nuclear power plants will cover, let's say, 20-25% of our electricity demand looking at current conditions."
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