Bechtel takes over Poland's nuclear plant site. Earthworks begin in Choczewo

Bechtel takes charge of the site

Taking over site coordination means Bechtel is now responsible for executing and supervising work at this stage of the project, coordinating subcontractors and ensuring site security. The work will be carried out in part by staff from the company's newly opened Pomeranian office, whose role is expected to grow as the project advances, eventually becoming Bechtel's main operational and engineering base for the AP1000 reactor project.

Bechtel Poland president Leszek Hołda called the handover "a very important day" for both the company and the multi year construction project as a whole. He said it marks the investment's move into a new phase of operational work, carried out jointly by Bechtel's engineers and specialist, including local, contracting firms.

PEJ president Marek Woszczyk said that after years of preparation, studies and administrative approvals, the project is now entering a phase of intensive fieldwork, calling it clear evidence that Poland's nuclear programme is moving from plans to execution. According to PEJ, more than 200 people are already working on site, with that number set to keep rising in the coming months.

Scope of earthworks and timeline

The first phase of work covers site levelling, upgrading and expanding drainage systems, and building a network of temporary roads totalling around 16 kilometres. In parallel, crews will prepare ground for future technical, logistics and production facilities and adapt existing infrastructure to construction needs.

The site will also host an expanded construction support base, including fuel storage and vehicle refuelling points, wash bays, equipment maintenance workshops, storage yards and material warehouses, plus office, welfare and sanitary facilities. Across the more than 300 hectare future construction site, crews will move and level earth, including building additional embankments to prepare the ground for the main construction phase. Around 6 kilometres of drainage ditches, culverts and erosion protection will also be built.

Work under the permit obtained is scheduled to run from the third quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2029.

Bechtel's fifth Polish contract this year

The Budimex contract is, according to PEJ, the fifth agreement Bechtel has signed with a Polish contractor this year. In February 2026, the company began working with Pomeranian firm DORACO to prepare geological and geotechnical survey facilities on site, and in May it signed a contract with Unihouse to build worker accommodation for a thousand employees at the future plant. Bechtel is also running dozens of tender procedures linked to the project, with a combined estimated value of around PLN 1.7 billion.

Budimex president Artur Popko said the firm has spent nearly 60 years building roads, rail lines, power infrastructure and critical infrastructure in Poland, and framed its role in the nuclear project as work of fundamental importance to the country's security and future.

PEJ itself points to a broader pattern of domestic engagement. Since 2020, the company has signed contracts with around 475 Polish suppliers worth a combined total of more than PLN 1.2 billion, including 77 firms from the Pomeranian region accounting for roughly PLN 370 million.

Government framing: energy security and independence

Poland's energy ministry also weighed in on the handover. Energy minister Miłosz Motyka described the project's move into its next phase as the result of consistent government action, including securing financing, establishing a stable legal framework and steadily increasing the share of Polish companies involved in the project. He said the investment is meant to strengthen Poland's energy security and independence and to help create conditions for stable, predictable energy prices for households and businesses.

Deputy energy minister Wojciech Wrochna, the government's plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, struck a similar note, saying the first nuclear plant will change Poland's energy sector and, for decades to come, will strengthen the security of energy supply while supporting the country's energy transition and economy.

The road to 2029

The start of earthworks formally closes the preparatory phase and marks the first physical trace of construction on the Choczewo site, though the road to bringing the AP1000 reactor online remains long. Under the schedule running to the first quarter of 2029, the coming years will be spent building supporting infrastructure and the construction base before work begins on the reactor itself. How much of this multi year contract's value stays in Poland will depend on whether the pace of agreements with domestic contractors that Bechtel and PEJ have kept up since the start of the year can be sustained through the far more technically demanding stages still to come.