What goes on in Poland on the 31st of January.
The polonization of the Yamal gas pipeline capacity is getting closer
The amendment to the energy law will allow for the transfer of tariff setting on the Yamal gas pipeline to the system operator Gaz-System. This is an element of the polonization of the power of this pipeline, which will allow Poles to use it in accordance with their plans, for example for gas supplies from the Baltic Pipe and LNG.
The Gaz-System entrustment agreement with EuRoPol Gaz, which is the owner of the Polish section of the Yamal Gas Pipeline, will define the operator’s working conditions until 2025, and in the event of disagreements, the Energy Regulatory Office will do so. Then the operator, i.e. Gaz-System, will modernize the gas pipeline. The remuneration for operating this bus is to be adequate to the expenses and set by the president of the Energy Regulatory Office.
Until now, they were regulated by the Yamal Agreement between Poland and Russia of 1993, which also established EuRoPol Gaz as the company responsible for the construction of the Yamal. Gazprom and PGNiG each hold a 50 percent stake in it, and decisions are made by consensus, sometimes creating a decision deadlock. There was also criticism of the provisions limiting EuRoPol Gaz’s revenues to PLN 21 million during the renegotiation of the Yamal contract in 2010.
The planned expansion of the compressor station and transmission network will allow the Yamal gas pipeline to be used to distribute gas throughout Poland, including the reverse on the border with Germany, the LNG terminal in Świnoujście and the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline that will go ashore in Niechorze.
PIE: Electricity production from coal increased by 26 percent in 2021
The Polish Economic Institute (PIE) reported that the production of electricity from coal in 2021 increased by 26 percent compared to 2020. This is due to increased domestic demand and higher exports.
PIE drew attention to the historic peak of electricity production in the world. Experts cited the estimates of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which show that after a slight decrease in 2020, the increase in demand for electricity in 2021 amounted to six percent.
– This is the largest percentage and absolute (1500 TWh) increase since the end of the financial crisis in 2010 – they stressed. They added that due to the increased production of electricity from fossil fuels, CO2 emissions also rose to a record level (by seven percent).
Analysts cited PSE data from 2021, which indicate an increase in coal consumption for electricity production in Poland by 26 percent year on year. – Coal energy production has peaked in eight years. This increase results from increased demand on the domestic market and increased exports, we read in the latest issue of „Tygodnik Gospodarczy PIE”.