What goes on in Poland on the 2nd of March.
FSRU project may accelerate if neighbors express interest
Poland plans to install a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), also known as a floating LNG terminal, in the Gulf of Gdańsk. However, its future may depend on the country’s neighbors: the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Talks are already underway.
Gaz-System has not yet made a final investment decision on the construction of the FSRU. The plan is to launch it in 2027 after the expansion of the gas transmission network. Poles estimate that it could reach a capacity of 6.1 billion cubic meters annually with the possibility of increasing it up to 12 billion. However, it depends on the demand.
Initially, Gaz-System predicted an increase in gas demand in Poland to even 32-34 billion cubic meters a year in 2030, but the energy crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused record-high prices and a decline in consumption of this fuel, as well as a revision of the Gaz-System forecast. The latest ten-year plan for the development of the gas network already assumes 24-28 billion cubic meters in annual demand in Poland. Therefore, using the FSRU for national needs may be less urgent. However, it can be useful to Poland’s neighbors without access to the sea. There are ongoing discussions about this.
In the spring of 2022, the Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa revealed to BiznesAlert.pl that the Czech Republic and Slovakia could join the FSRU project, and the news about this was circulated by the largest media in the world. There are still no decisions on this matter. „The FSRU project in Gdańsk can serve to meet the long-term needs for natural gas both in Poland and in the region. The meetings with delegations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia (in February 2023- ed.) were aimed at exchanging more detailed information on the plans and expectations of stakeholders in the field of gas security,” explained the Climate Ministry in response to a question from BiznesAlert.pl.
Gaz-System will allow reselling access to the LNG terminal
Gaz-System said in a press release that as the operator of the LNG terminal in Świnoujście, it will use the GSA platform to handle transactions on the secondary market.
As stated in the press release, users of the LNG terminal in Świnoujście, from February 28 this year „will be able to resell regasification services as well as additional services such as tank truck loading for re-contracting. Resale offers on the GSA platform will be made by means of two options: FCFS (First Come First Served) and CFO (Call For Orders).” „The introduction of such option by Świnoujście LNG Terminal Operator constitutes an extension of the current secondary market for LNG Terminal services and, at the same time, an implementation of the provisions of Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2576 of 19 December 2022 enhancing solidarity through better coordination of gas purchases, reliable price benchmarks and exchanges of gas across borders,” the company wrote.
Gaz-System interested in switching to hydrogen and other renewable gases
On March 1, Gaz-System announced that it is launching a market research procedure for new projects in the field of hydrogen, ammonia and biomethane. The company hopes this will contribute to developing and enhancing its hydrogen strategy, that is currently in the making, and its plans to create infrastructural enhancements to enable transport of hydrogen, biomethane and ammonia, both for receiving it from production facilities and delivering it to the locations indicated by the study participants.
The company invites all entities interested in active participation in completing and developing its strategy aimed at the decarbonization of the Polish economy. It adds that it is open to direct dialogue with market participants during market research and to the organization of bilateral meetings.
Gaz-System may switch Polish gas pipelines to hydrogen in the future. It is worth recalling that at the end of 2022, the company signed an agreement with the operators from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany, under which the parties will create a cross-border Nordic-Baltic hydrogen corridor. According to the company, this project will diversify energy supplies and accelerate the development of renewable energy, which will achieve the EU goal of producing 10 million tons of hydrogen from renewable sources by 2030. The corridor will allow the transport of organic hydrogen produced in the Baltic Sea area to collection points and industrial clusters located along the entire corridor, as well as in Central Europe.
No deal between Tauron and Rafako
A month ago, Tauron and Rafako reached a preliminary agreement in the dispute over the Jaworzno power plant block and expressed hope that the terms of the settlement would be agreed by February 28. Negotiations are still ongoing, however, and the deadline for the deal is next week.
The dispute between Rafako and Tauron has been going on for months. It is about a 910 MW block at the Jaworzno Power Plant, which was built for more than six billion zlotys and launched belatedly in November 2020. Already in June 2021, the first malfunctions occurred, because of which the unit was turned off. It resumed operation at the end of April 2022, but was later turned off twice. Rafako claims that the reason for the failure was the inadequate quality of coal supplied by Tauron. Tauron believes that the block has numerous defects, for which the contractor is responsible.
Nuclear Super Act will return to the Sejm after Senate amendments
At the next meeting on March 7-9, the Sejm will likely consider the Senate amendments to the law on investments in nuclear energy facilities and related investments and some other laws.
The Senate has proposed several amendments. The first one reads as follows: “a permit for the construction of a nuclear facility that is also a nuclear power plant may be issued after a decision has been obtained to permit the use of a road or railway line, together with the accompanying railway infrastructure, having the status of an investment accompanying an investment in the construction of this nuclear facility.”
Another amendment supplements the cataloge of entities that have the right of a party in the proceedings to issue a decision on the environmental conditions for the implementation of investments as part of the construction of a nuclear energy facility.
The next change updates the rules for determining compensation for expropriation of real estate, which in the Senate’s view will guarantee decent compensation to expropriated persons.
There is also an amendment on the creation of a legal instrument that will be used by entrepreneurs who suffer losses as a result of the construction of a nuclear energy facility. The State Treasury will be responsible for the compensation.