ProjectConfigurable and Template Project Settings

I've registered PomSorterConfigurable as

    <extensions defaultExtensionNs="com.intellij">
        <projectConfigurable instance="pl.itcrowd.pom_sorter.PomSorterConfigurable"/>
    </extensions>

It works nice when project is loaded and I enter settings. But when I close project and enter settings then I'm getting NPE, because project component that should be passed to form is missing from the fake project:

    @Override
    public JComponent createComponent()
    {
        settingsForm = new SettingsForm(project.getComponent(PomSorter.class));
        return settingsForm.$$$getRootComponent$$$();
    }

For now I'd like the PomSorter tab in project settings to be visible only when there is any project open.
I've achieved this by removing <projectConfigurable/> from <extensions/> and making PomSorterConfigurable implement ProjectComponent.


How should I proceed if I'd like to show PomSorter tab in template project settings?

The settings are kept in PomSorter, which is main project component. It implements PersistentStateComponent<PomSorter.State> and is annotated like this:

@com.intellij.openapi.components.State(
    name = PomSorter.COMPONENT_NAME,
    storages = {@Storage(
        file = "$PROJECT_FILE$")})