„We will be safe in the winter,” the Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska told BiznesAlert.pl.
BiznesAlert.pl: The elections are around the corner, and the Polish state is still going through an energy crisis. Should we worry about the security of supply this winter as we did during the previous one?
Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska: Last winter, we didn’t have to worry, but the narrative from the East was supposed to have a chilling effect on Poles. We’ve been through the last winter, and the next one will be safer. We have contracts and supplies of gas and coal. We also have feedback from abroad. I heard from my Czech colleagues that Poles managed to handle it, but they did not. They know we did well. This winter, we can sleep peacefully as well.
We contracted a lot of gas. Will the surplus go to the neighbors?
We are thinking about making Poland a regional gas trading centre. We are safe and can support our neighbors, which is why we are analyzing bringing the second FSRU to Gdańsk.
Do you expect news about the FSRU in September?
In the coming months, it will become clear to what extent the volumes declared by the states of the region in relation to the second vessel will check out in binding offers. We knowingly accelerated this procedure enough to – depending on whether there is demand – order two ships at once. We are hearing the demand is there, but the declarations have to be actually made. We have already spoken with the Czechs, Slovaks and Romanians. Ahead of us are talks with Ukraine and Hungary, which were also interested.
Will the capacity of the second FSRU be under or over the assumed 4.5 billion cubic meters a year?
Let’s wait for the reports that will appear during the binding phase of the open season procedure for the second FSRU unit. Depending on its results, we will adjust our actions. The key here is to expand the national gas pipeline network.
But can there be any black swans in the analysis: problems with the atom in France, with the distribution of gas in our country?
As for the construction of the FSRU, today I do not see any threats. As for the situation in the European energy sector, if there is anything to worry about, it is the situation on the German market. Germany has shut down its nuclear power plants and lacks 5 GW of capacity to balance the system. They have bought 12 TWh beween the end of April and mid-July from neighboring markets – France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In the winter it will be more difficult to get energy from PVs, which means Germany may have a supply problem. Berlin is aware of this, so it is building numerous LNG terminals based on a special act, without sticking to a number of construction and environmental procedures.
Germany also does not have many LNG contracts.
We don’t have that problem. Orlen’s agreement with Gaz-System for regasification services using the FSRU in Gdańsk is the best example of this. The key here was the early conclusion of diversification agreements, for example, for gas from the United States, instead of wrapped up in Nord Stream 2. We are prepared to talk about gas supplies, but we also have a lot of coal.
Will solidarity regulations work?
As of today, I do not see the necessity or the expediency of taking such actions, but I hope that we will be able to help in the first place with the supply of electricity.
From „dirty” coal?
From stable and safe coal.
The Naftoport provides services in the region and new investments in it are coming. Will there be free access to it, or will one recipient distribute the raw material to others, like PGNiG at the LNG terminal?
The Naftoport has been successfully fulfilling orders for both Polish and German refineries for years. Of course, the war and the accompanying sanctions changed the situation on the market, because we practically switched 100% to the supply of oil from the sea, but expecting greater demand from German customers, we increased the possibility of using oil infrastructure by applying a measure that reduces friction in oil pipelines and allows for larger deliveries, and we are also expanding the Naftoport with a new ship station.
How will the Naftoport serve the region in the future?
We already support our colleagues at the Schwedt refinery. Some of the oil also comes from the sea. We are open to the construction of the second line of the Pomeranian oil pipeline if there is demand. However, it must be voiced first. The discussion on the Stork II gas pipeline to the Czech Republic is similar. We need to develop a win-win project that will work commercially, so that the connections do not go unused. We cannot afford to build unnecessary infrastructure. The capacity reservation will determine what projects require new investments.
How does Poland look at the debate on the expropriation of Rosneft Deutschland in Schwedt, which has not yet been resolved?
The business decision belongs to the companies that are supposed to work there. We support energy security without the participation of the Russians, even if their assets are under trust management.
Should we worry about the security of fuel supplies after OPEC+ countries cut supply?
Orlen as the main supplier of fuels, also thanks to its stronger market position, has secured its supplies and there is no reason to worry.
The development of infrastructure for the energy transition is the subject of debate before the elections. The opposition is liberal about it and the government is more conservative. Can we find the middle ground?
We need to grow renewables rationally. We cannot approach this topic ideologically, because RES alone will not save us from a blackout. We need to have a stable electricity system, even when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. On the other hand, there are more and more people interested in RES, and we must also take this into account. Network expansion is one of the solutions ensuring the integration of RES, but there are also other equally important ones, e.g. reverse DSR. One can pay for reporting increased demand to allow more RES. Seeing a greater supply of renewables can give an economic signal that one can use more green and cheaper energy instead of paying for a reduction in renewable generation, and everyone wins.
Is the Polish approach to the energy transition better understood in the European Union?
The change is clearly visible. We return to nuclear energy. More and more EU countries are looking at it as a remedy for reducing emissions and making the electricity system more stable. The Swedes want to spend billions on the next large-scale units. My meetings in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia confirm that each of these countries wants to talk about small nuclear reactors.
Does this mean that it will be easier to get support for the Polish model of financing a nuclear power plant?
It’s going to be a long process. We want to launch a dialogue with the European Commission on our financial model in September. The Czechs said that this process took them three years. We hope for a good, substantive discussion with the EC services and we hope that we will be able to get a decision approving public assistance much faster. Thanks to it, it will be possible to start construction of a nuclear power plant according to the schedule, that is, in 2026.
Will we hear any news about Poland’s big atom before the elections?
On 18 August, the public consultations on the environmental decision for a large nuclear power plant in Pomerania ended. I hope that this decision will be issued in September, opening the way for the issuance of a location decision, which will determine the area of the investment and specify the conditions for implementation.
Interview by Wojciech Jakóbik