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Polish Briefing 15 January, 2019 9:00 am   
COMMENTS: Mateusz Gibała

Polish Briefing: Offshore and nuclear will remain in the energy strategy

What goes on in Poland on the 15th of January.

Naimski: CO2 emission prices are unpredictable

The government plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure Piotr Naimski took part in the 19th National Power and Heating Congress POWERPOL under the patronage of BiznesAlert.pl. He spoke about trends influencing the shape of energy strategy, in which there will be space for atom and offshore.

– Some of these trends are simply independent from us – the minister warned. He started with the emission of carbon dioxide from the energy industry. – We look at it more often from the energy side. On this side, the pursuit of reduction of carbon dioxide emissions on a global scale is actually a measure perceived by the energy sector as a heavy tax – said the guest of the conference. – It causes an increase in energy prices for recipients.

– The final document from the climate summit did not include a provision that would open the way to the transfer of the European emissions trading system to the global level. This means for the European economy that its non-competitive attitude to other world economies will deepen, because it will be charged with coal tax – said Naimski. – Striving for the rest of the world’s economies to be burdened with it has not been successful yet.

– Prices for carbon dioxide emissions are difficult to predict. If we have a price increase of 400, 500 percent in a short time, it means that it is difficult to predict. In general, we are dealing with competition from two sectors of the economy in the field of energy: renewable sources and those who consume a lot of energy. The game of interests between these sectors will depend on the result of the EU climate policy in the area of ​​energy prices

RES, LNG and energy storage

– The LNG market trend is global. Liquefied gas is increasingly commodity and is comparable to oil and coal. From the point of view, this is a very favorable trend, because we have a gas terminal in Świnoujście and we are expanding it, we have reliable suppliers of this raw material and, in addition, at prices that are becoming more and more global – said Naimski.

In his opinion, another trend is the development of the energy storage. – In this area, we should even be ahead of our opportunities to participate. The revolution in the sector will come from energy storage. If we are able to build them at a price that will provide comfort for companies using this energy, then it will be a moment when renewable energy sources will be widely used and available – said the Minister.

The Minister also announced the adoption of a new energy strategy after consultations lasting until January 15. – It will be the basis for the energy security policy for our country. In this sense, the balance between a traditional source of energy, such as coal and zero-emission sources, on the one hand will ensure safety, and on the other will fit into the CO2 emission standards that are the result of the trend that I mentioned. This policy will provide space for energy from the wind, above all at sea and for nuclear energy. A year ahead of us will be a period of specifying these projects.
– There is no point mixing the problem of air pollution with climate policy. Smog is not carbon dioxide, CO2 is not poisonous – stressed the minister. – What comes out of the chimneys of the power plant is steam vapor, not any toxic gases. Let us not scare ourselves – he appealed.

In his opinion, the development of electromobility that would reduce the emission of air pollutants will also depend on energy storage technologies.