Polish energy group PGE on Monday denied reports that it had pushed back from 2020 to 2025 the planned opening of the country's first nuclear power plant.

PGE spokesman Lukasz Witkowski told AFP that the 2025 date highlighted in weekend media reports on the group's development strategy was simply the target for bringing the plant up to full capacity.

"We plan for Poland's first nuclear power plant, with a total output of around 3,000 megawatts from two or three reactors, to be at full capacity by 2025," Witkowski said.

"That implies that the first reactor would come online beforehand," he underlined.

Confusion over the target date arose because PGE did not mention nuclear power in its 2020 energy portfolio, part of its strategic plan for 2012-2035.

That sparked reports that it had had to rein in its drive to meet a government-set target for opening Poland's first atomic power station in 2020.

State-owned PGE's strategy foresees a 36-percent share of nuclear power in its overall energy mix by 2030, when a second 3,000-megawatt plant is due to have come online.

Poland, a nation of 38 million people, currently relies on its plentiful coal the generate 94 percent of its power.

PGE had been due to launch a tender process for the construction of the nuclear plant before the end of last year, but the announcement was delayed because of the global financial crisis.

Three international groups have expressed interest in the project: French duo EDF and Areva and two US-Japanese consortia, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas.