Warsaw’s first full-scale nuclear project is not only reshaping the country’s energy mix, it is also throwing a strategic lifeline to Belfort, where France’s heavyweight nuclear turbines are gearing up for a new chapter.
Poland breaks with coal and bets on nuclear
For decades, Poland relied overwhelmingly on coal to keep the lights on. In 2022, more than 70% of its electricity still came from coal-fired plants, much of it low-grade lignite dug from domestic mines.
That model has grown harder to defend. The climate cost is high, EU emissions rules are tighter, and coal regions face rising economic pressure. By the second quarter of 2025, coal’s share in Polish power generation had already fallen below half, to around 45%.
At the start of January 2026, Warsaw made a decisive move. The government confirmed the construction of the country’s first nuclear power station at Lubiatowo, on the Baltic Sea coast in the north.
The new plant will use the American-designed AP1000 reactor from Westinghouse. Yet the hardware that actually turns steam into electricity — the turbine island — will carry a French stamp.
Poland’s first nuclear power plant will run on US reactors but depend on French turbines for the bulk of its electricity output.
Why the Belfort turbines matter
Poland has selected Arabelle Solutions, based in Belfort in eastern France, to supply the steam turbines for the Lubiatowo plant. The deal covers three Arabelle units, each rated at about 1,200 megawatts of electrical output.
Put together, those machines will power the equivalent of several million homes once all three AP1000 reactors are online from 2033 onwards.
The turbines will be designed, machined and assembled in Belfort. Around them sits a highly specialised ecosystem: welders, precision machinists, engineers, and software experts used to working on some of the most demanding power equipment ever built.
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The Arabelle technology is no newcomer. It already equips big nuclear plants, including EPR reactors in Europe and Asia, and is engineered to squeeze as much energy as possible from high-pressure steam while running continuously for decades.
Beyond the turbine itself, Arabelle Solutions will handle the wider “steam turbine island” — condensers, generators, cooling systems and a complex web of mechanical and electrical interfaces. Westinghouse, as reactor designer, must dovetail its AP1000 systems with this French-built conventional island.
How much is the contract worth?
Neither Arabelle Solutions nor the Polish authorities have published a price tag. But by looking at past projects and updating costs, energy analysts reach a reasonably tight range.
- Reference cost in 2006 for a similar French EPR turbine: about €350 million
- Industry inflation and tougher safety rules since then
- Extra engineering effort for a first-of-a-kind Polish programme
On that basis, the current cost of a single large turbine island is likely between €400 million and €600 million per unit. Multiplied by three reactors, the Polish deal lands somewhere above €1 billion, probably close to €1.5 billion.
Analysts estimate the turbine contract at over one billion euros, making it one of the largest industrial wins for Belfort in years.
From Alstom to GE to EDF: a turbulent French saga
A flagship technology temporarily lost
The story behind the Arabelle turbine mirrors the ups and downs of French industrial policy. Its roots go back to early 20th century turbine maker Société Rateau. Over the decades, French-built turbines became the backbone of the national nuclear fleet constructed from the 1970s to the 1990s.
By the turn of the century, the Arabelle name — born in Belfort — had become a shorthand in the sector for high output and long service life.
That changed dramatically in 2014, when Alstom sold its energy activities to US group General Electric. The deal went through with the blessing of the French state, but it sparked fierce criticism at home.
Critics saw a loss of sovereignty. The turbine that literally sits at the heart of the French power system moved under American control, despite protective arrangements such as a special “golden share” giving the state veto rights on sensitive decisions.
A return under public control
A decade on, France has pulled the crown jewel back. In May 2024, state-owned utility EDF bought the nuclear turbine business for around €175 million and folded it into a new entity, Arabelle Solutions.
The company now employs roughly 3,300 people, operates in close to 16 countries, and continues to build the Arabelle‑1700 in Belfort — currently one of the world’s most powerful nuclear turbines.
The Polish contract lands at a symbolic moment: a flagship technology that once slipped abroad is again under public French control, and is now winning high-stakes tenders across Europe.
Jobs and skills: what the deal means for Belfort
On the ground in Belfort, the Lubiatowo contract is more than a prestige boost. Arabelle Solutions expects the project to support about 1,000 direct and indirect jobs spread over several years.
That includes engineers who design blades and rotors, boiler-makers handling giant steel shells, machinists working to fractions of a millimetre, control-system specialists, and project managers overseeing deliveries from dozens of suppliers.
For a site that has endured reorganisations and periodic uncertainty, having a long pipeline of nuclear work brings stability. Workshops can run at higher utilisation, apprentices can be trained on real projects, and local subcontractors in Bourgogne–Franche-Comté gain visibility on future orders.
The Polish order acts as an industrial anchor for Belfort, tying hundreds of specialised jobs to a single strategic contract.
Arabelle’s growing international portfolio
The Lubiatowo turbines sit alongside a growing list of contracts that stretch far beyond France and Poland.
| Country | Project | Role | Main equipment | Timeline |
| Poland | Lubiatowo nuclear plant (AP1000) | New build supplier | 3 x 1,200 MW steam turbines | 2026–2035 |
| France | Existing 56‑reactor fleet | Major maintenance and upgrades | Turbogenerators and large replacements | 2024–2040 |
| United Kingdom | Hinkley Point C (EPR) | Engineering and commissioning | Arabelle turbines for EPR units | 2024–2030 |
| Finland | Olkiluoto 3 (EPR) | Technical support | Conventional island | Ongoing |
A message to Europe’s nuclear sector
The Polish turbine order sends a signal far beyond Warsaw and Paris. European nuclear firms still have the capacity to win major international tenders against competition from South Korea or China, provided they lean on proven industrial strengths.
For France, the optics are clear. Even without exporting its own reactors in this case, it is supplying the machinery that governs how efficiently heat from the core becomes electricity on the grid.
That part of a plant determines much of its lifetime performance: fuel use, maintenance shutdowns, and operating costs over 60 years or more. Performance there can make or break the economics of a new build programme.
What a steam turbine island actually does
In a nuclear power station, the reactor does not generate electricity directly. It heats water, turning it into high-pressure steam. The turbine island sits downstream of that process.
- The steam spins a turbine, which drives a generator to produce electricity.
- After releasing its energy, the steam is cooled back into water in a condenser.
- Pumps send the water back toward the reactor loop to begin the cycle again.
The efficiency of that cycle has real-world consequences. A modest gain in turbine performance can mean hundreds of gigawatt hours of extra electricity over the lifetime of a single reactor, with the same fuel and similar operating costs.
Risks, benefits and what comes next
For Poland, nuclear brings benefits and challenges. On the upside, it cuts dependence on coal and imported gas, reduces exposure to volatile fossil prices, and lowers emissions compared with lignite plants.
Risks remain. Building a first nuclear plant is complex. Schedules can slip, local supply chains need to scale up quickly, and regulators must oversee a technology they have not yet licensed at home. Close coordination between Westinghouse, Arabelle Solutions and Polish partners will shape how smoothly Lubiatowo progresses.
For France, the contract tests whether the recently renationalised turbine business can turn political support into sustainable export success. If Belfort delivers on time and on budget, it strengthens the case for French-made equipment in other planned European nuclear projects.
Behind the headlines about billions of euros and geopolitical alignments lies a more technical race: who can combine reactors, turbines and grid integration into reliable, bankable packages. The Lubiatowo project, and the three French-built turbines at its core, will offer an early answer in the 2030s.
