National Energy Security Agency to be ready in a few weeks
The establishment of the National Energy Security Agency (NABE) that will concentrate coal assets is scheduled to take place in a few weeks after final touches at the European Commission. It was originally supposed to be ready by now.
„The process of NABE and related reform is ready at 90 percent,” said Jacek Sasin, Minister of State Assets at a press conference. „A few details remain to be finalized. We are waiting for the green light from the European Commission, it must state that there is no state aid element in the reform. We are in contact with the EC, we expect approval and in the coming weeks we want to finalize the process,” he assured.
Originally, NABE was to be ready in 2022. It was to take over unprofitable coal assets, relieving the burden on state-owned companies while ensuring security of energy supply.
Jedrzej Stachura
Poles and Canadians set to build first offshore wind farm connection
Orlen, together with Canada’s Northland Power, is beginning to build an offshore wind farm connection, which is expected to start operation in 2026.
The Polish company has announced that it has begun construction of the power output from the planned offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea to the national power system. Orlen and Northland Power are cooperating on the Baltic Power project.
Orlen stated that the Baltic Power offshore wind farm will be made up of 76 turbines with a capacity of 15 MW and a height of over 200 meters per unit. It will operate across an area of about 130 square kilometers. „The farm will be located about 23 kilometers from the shore, at the height of Choczew and Łeba, where the farm’s service port will be built. Upon completion, the farm will be able to supply more than 1.5 million households with clean energy,” the company promised.
PKN Orlen / Wojciech Jakóbik
Tauron will build a new wind farm in Pomerania
15 turbines with a total capacity of 30 MW will be built in Warblewo, Pomeranian Voivodeship. The first electricity will flow from the plant in late 2024. Tauron reports that this will result in about 74,900 fewer tons of CO2 going into the atmosphere than if the same amount of electricity had been produced at a conventional generation source.
„The construction of new wind capacity is the driving force behind Tauron’s Green Turn strategy. We are currently building four wind power plants with a total capacity of 140 MW. This year alone, we plan to invest about one billion zlotys in RES development,” calculates Paweł Szczeszek, president of the TAURON Group. „According to our strategy, in 2025 we plan to have 700 MW installed in wind turbines,” Szczeszek added.
The energy leader’s new strategy is to accelerate Tauron’s Green Turn by significantly upping renewable energy capacity. The Group plans to have 1,600 MW installed in wind, photovoltaic and hydroelectric power plants in 2025, and 3,700 MW in 2030. This will account for about 80 percent of the Group’s total generation mix.
In wind power alone, TAURON is already planning to have 1,100 MW by 2030. At the same time, the Group will develop photovoltaic farm projects – by 2025 it will increase capacity to 700 MW, and by 2030 it will have 1,400 MW of solar megawatts.
The energy crisis has clearly accelerated the implementation of the energy transition and the development of RES. Thanks to the liberalization of the 10h Law, Polish power companies are again able to develop onshore wind farms, which can relieve tensions in the national power system and reduce energy bills.
Tauron / Jacek Perzynski
Poland may improve on last year’s seaport cargo handling record
In 2022, Poland recorded a record of 133 million tons of cargo handled. Deputy Infrastructure Minister Marek Gróbarczyk believes that this achievement can be improved this year. „Poland is becoming a huge transportation and logistics hub, and seaports will play an extremely important role in this,” Gróbarczyk said.
Currently, the handling capacity of Polish seaports for grain and other agricultural products is about one million tons per month. The government says this is due to the expansion of export, logistics and transportation capabilities following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
„Ensuring grain export is crucial in the agricultural market today. We will not rest until we, together with farmers, make it possible for grain to leave Poland in sufficient quantity,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki added during a press conference.
Poland’s largest bulk cargo terminal is located in Gdynia. Its capacity reaches 300,000 tons per month. A truck stop terminal there has recently been expanded for the transportation of grain.
Ministry of Infrastructure / Jedrzej Stachura