What goes on in Poland on the 17th of March.
Poland will hand over MiG aircraft to Ukraine, and is waiting for Korean and American fighter jets
Poland’s President announced Warsaw would give MiG 29 aircraft to Ukraine that is battling the Russian invasion. The first machines are expected to arrive in a few days. The Poles want to replace MiGs with jets from South Korea and the United States.
„This decision was first taken by us jointly at the level of the highest state authorities, and then the government adopted a special resolution on this issue. So we can safely say that we are literally sending these MiGs right now to Ukraine,” said the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda. The first four fighter jets are expected to reach the Dnieper in a few days.
Poland has several MiGs. They will be replaced with new machines from the US and South Korea. „These are the FA-50s from South Korea, the first of which we expect this year, and then the squadrons of F-35 aircraft that we ordered from the United States,” the President said.
Poland has ordered 32 F-35s from the United States and 48 FA-50s from Korea. The growing military spending is a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
Coking coal a critical raw material
The European Commission has decided that coking coal will remain on the list of EU critical raw materials. This was requested by Poland, which is the largest producer of this raw material in Europe. Coking coal is also the energy source on which Europe’s steel production runs.
„It is a success. This is a good day for the Silesian Voivodeship, because the largest supplier of coking coal in the EU is Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa. Today’s decision means that it will still be easier for it to raise funds for future investments or creating jobs. At the same time, access to coking coal is essential for our metallurgical industry; steel is needed to build wind farms, photovoltaic installations or develop rail transport. In this sense, the new list of critical raw materials is also fundamental for the success of the entire green transformation of the European Union,” said MEP Jerzy Buzek.
Poles and Ukrainians want to transfer hydrogen and biomethane
Pipeline operators in Poland and Ukraine are stepping up cooperation to transfer hydrogen and biomethane together, and may also build a new LNG corridor from Poland to supply the entire region.
President of Gaz-System Marcin Chludziński made a statement at the ceremony of signing a memorandum of cooperation with the Ukrainian gas TSO GTSOU. „We are pleased to formalize what has been happening for a long time, that is, cooperation with our Ukrainian counterpart,” he said. In this context, he spoke, among other things, about measures to increase transmission capacity.
„It is also a question of the future, of the transmission of green fuels, i.e. hydrogen and biomethane. We have complementary potentials and thanks to understanding the regulations we will have it easier to introduce regulations, exchange information, and jointly create plans,” the president of Gaz – System said.
„This is one of the important steps to ensure the energy security of Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe. Thanks to our cooperation, we can ensure energy independence from the aggressor country,” said Julia Pidkomorna, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine. „We will have access to the gas connection at the border and create a gas corridor. Ukraine is interested in access to the Polish LNG terminal,” she said. She spoke about the use of storage facilities in Ukraine and gas supplies through this country from the south of Europe.
„This is the culmination of yesterday’s event, that is, the conference on cooperation in the field of energy between Poland and Ukraine, which will open the cycle of events in an orderly manner. We hope that in the context of the tragic war in Ukraine they will be based on providing aid only temporarily. We cannot wait for victory and peace in Ukraine, but we already want to plan together with it a secure future for our countries and the whole region,” said Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Mateusz Berger.
„Our agreement anticipates changes in Europe and its central and eastern parts. It’s greening the gas: biomethane, hydrogen, maybe synthetic gas. All this is difficult for operators who function in a well-organized world and standards that have been in force for centuries. This is something new and we want to work on it” said Paweł Stańczak, Deputy CEO for Development and Transformation at Ukraine’s GTSOU.
„Biomethane helps the gas market to turn green thanks to blending. It gives green certificates. For us as an operator, it is an opportunity to do what the regulations will require us to do anyway, which is to mix and transfer biomethane,” President Chludziński stated. „We are seeing an increasing number of inquiries about the possibility of joining biomethane projects. With an agreement at the government level, we will want to announce the connection framework, how to do it, what is technically possible and cost-effective. Ukraine is a major producer of biomethane. What is produced there can be sold through the Polish network to other parts of Europe as well. We want to create the right technical conditions. It is also necessary to create a billing system related to the confirmation and certification of biomethane,” he explained.
„It may be that in a while the biomethane will flow in the network. The potential of Ukraine, calculated before the war, is 9 billion cubic meters of biomethane per year,” said Paweł Stańczak.
Poles will order a FSRU or two by September
Gaz-System is currently studying the market demand for LNG from the FSRU in the Gulf of Gdańsk. One or two FSRUs that could be commissioned by September are on the table.
„Regasification units should be secured by the end of September. The contractor and the usage model remain to be determined,” said Marcin Chludziński, president of Gaz-System, at a conference on cooperation with Ukraine’s gas TSO OGTSUA.
„Market research will allow the company to assess whether there will be one or two units. If two, then the capacity needs to be covered by regional demand,” explained Chludziński in relation to the open season procedure for 4.5 billion cubic meters of annual additional capacity compared to the 6.1 billion set for the FSRU in the Gulf of Gdańsk. „You can also add a second unit that will respond to regional needs,” added the president of Gaz-System.
The FSRU is expected to arrive to the Gulf of Gdańsk in the years 2025-27. BiznesAlert was the first to report in April 2022 that it could also be used to deliver gas to neighbors, including Ukraine.