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What goes on in Poland on the 25th of October.
Kurtyka: Growing electricity prices raise concerns
Minister of Climate and Environment Michał Kurtyka met with representatives of EU institutions, incl. with Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, and Kadri Simson, Commissioner for Energy. The main topics were rising energy prices and the energy transition. “Soaring energy prices are a concern,” the minister said.
He also pointed out that actions in response to the current crisis should be intensified, and go beyond the proposals from the European Commission’s toolkit. “The EU must redouble its efforts to enforce European regulations on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. To protect its citizens and businesses, it must vigorously oppose these practices,” he noted.
Kurtyka stated that the European Commission should adopt a complementary delegated act covering both natural gas and nuclear energy. “Poland will need both technologies to move away from coal in electricity and heating,” he explained.
The minister emphasized that the rising energy prices were raising concerns about the potential lack of social acceptance for the ambitions of energy transformation. “In order to carry out the energy transition in a socially acceptable way, we need to make it sound and safe. The focus should be on making energy available to all Europeans and not limiting the growth of EU economies,” he said.
According to Michał Kurtyka, some parts of the Fit For 55 package should be re-analyzed. “Particular emphasis should be placed on the new emissions trading system for the transport and construction sectors, as it will put a burden on less well-off groups in society, which could worsen energy poverty,” he said.
Biomethane will receive support thanks to an amendment to the RES law
Introducing a definition of biomethane, defining the principles of conducting business in the field of biogas production or the production of biomethane from biogas and agricultural biogas are just some of the provisions of the amendment to the Act on renewable energy sources. The draft act prepared by the Ministry of Climate and Environment has been added to the register of legislative works of the Council of Ministers.
When preparing new regulations on renewable energy sources (RES), Poland’s obligations to increase the share of renewable energy sources in gross final energy consumption, determined by the need to achieve climate goals, were taken into account. The development of the biomethane sector will help Poland to achieve its ambitions in this regard.
“Signals from the industry and the experience of countries where the biomethane sector is currently developing the fastest, clearly show a number of benefits in many areas of the economy resulting from the development of this technology. First of all, biomethane effectively reduces CO2 emissions, which allows, depending on the direction of the end use, to reduce emissions, e.g. in transport, heating and power engineering,” the Minister of Climate and Environment Michał Kurtyka emphasized.
