What goes in Poland on 15th of May.
Orlen and Synthos want to plug the coal gap with energy from Ukraine
Orlen and Synthos have explained that energy from Ukraine is to help them cover the coal gap.
The Rzeszów-Chmielnicki energy bridge is already in operation, but Poles are already talking about another one: Chełm-Równe. The first bridge connects Poland with the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant. The second would connect the Poles with the Równe Power Plant (four reactors with a total capacity of 3,600 MW). This is an initiative proposed by Poland’s Orlen Synthos Green Energy, about which the Climate Ministry talked in a commentary for BiznesAlert.pl. We asked OSGE for more information on this.
„Orlen Synthos Green Energy has submitted a project for the construction of a 400 kV line between the Rowień Nuclear Power Plant and Poland (a station near Chełm in the Lublin region). The project has been submitted for pre-qualification for support under EU projects of common interest,” explained Orlen Synthos Green Energy in a statement for BiznesAlert.pl.
The investment is expected to cost 297 million euros. The project plan, its schedule and financial and economic analyses are being prepared. OSGE is to discuss this issue with the Climate Ministry, PSE and Ukrenergo, grid operators from Poland and Ukraine. One of the topics is the route of the line.
The second energy bridge from Poland to Ukraine would be built after the end of the war in Ukraine. The line would be 23 km long in Poland and 152 kilometers long in Ukraine. „In the first phase, the line would be used to export energy to Ukraine, supporting the reconstruction of the country, but the main goal would be to import zero-emission and cheaper energy to Poland in the second half of this decade, when the Polish economy will need it most. This will be the time when the shutdown of the first coal sources will begin, and the offshore wind turbines will only start entering the system while nuclear energy (large and small reactors) will not be here yet,” explained OSGE.
Interestingly, the Równe-Chełm electricity connection would become the property of OSGE, although the transmission network operator in Poland is PSE. However, other business models are possible, depending on arrangements on both sides of the border. OSGE assumes that the capacity of the second power bridge could reach 4000 MWe, of which commercial capacity would be at 1000 MWe. Annual physical flows may reach 2.4 TWh.
Wojciech Jakóbik
Former German chancellor investigated by prosecutor’s office in relation to the invasion on Ukraine
RMF FM reports that the National Prosecutor’s Office received a notification about the possibility of Gerhard Schroeder committing a crime and included it in the ongoing investigation. It is run by the Mazovian division of the National Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime and Corruption.
According to documents obtained by investigators, the German politician could use his posts in the Russian energy sector, to later put pressure on the member states of the European Union and Ukraine. The investigators will also be looking into his role in the preparations for the invasion.
The notification also said that despite the war, Schroeder did not distance himself from the Kremlin and kept his jobs at Russian energy companies. A few days ago, the former German Chancellor also attended a reception at the Russian Embassy in Berlin on the occasion of the anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union over Germany in May 1945.
Polish investigators are conducting the investigation in consultation with the Ukrainians. So far, nearly 2,000 witnesses have been interviewed. Prosecutors from Poland documented destroyed buildings in Ukraine, using 3D scanners, among others.
RMF FM / Bartosz Siemieniuk