Poland will not attain a satisfactory level of energy security unless it builds new power plants, upgrades its power transmission networks and diversifies energy sources, according to participants in an energy security conference held by The Warsaw Voice in June.

Forecasts of the future demand for electricity in Poland indicate that it is necessary to expand the country’s power generation capacity, conference participants said. To meet European Union requirements concerning greenhouse gas emission cuts, Poland will have to modernize its power plants and introduce new sources of clean energy. That is a major challenge for the country in the years ahead.

“The EU’s energy and climate package means a number of serious problems for member states,” Janusz Steinhoff, a former deputy prime minister and economy minister of Poland, said during the conference, which was entitled The Energy Security of Poland and Europe. The conference served as an opportunity for government officials, researchers and power-sector enterprises, both Polish and foreign, to exchange their views on the matter.

If the energy and climate package enters into force in its present form, Poland will be hardest hit among EU member states, conference participants said. This is because Poland’s power sector relies heavily on domestic coal deposits. Consequently, the goal to achieve a 20-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 may prove to be a tremendous challenge for Poland. To make matters worse, the required 20 percent cut might not be enough because a new idea has recently emerged within the EU to make even more radical cuts in CO2 emissions.

“We have made it clear that it is difficult for Poland to accept a 30 percent reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2020,” said Deputy Environment Minister Bernard Błaszczyk. “Such a reduction is possible, but it would have to take a longer time.”

According to Zbigniew Kamieński, deputy director of the Department of Economic Development at the Economy Ministry, the EU needs to seek such Emission Trading Scheme solutions that could really solve the problem and not just be convenient to selected EU member states. “If we really want to stop climate change, we have to act globally,” Kamieński said.

Steinhoff said he is aware of the global impact of the problem and believes that healthy economic competition worldwide needs to be based on uniform labor and environmental protection standards. “If such standards are unavailable, then ‘ailing’ competition will lead to disparities in development and cause almost irreversible harm to the natural environment of the entire planet,” Steinhoff said. The absence of a global agreement may also trigger major changes in the global economy, he added.

Roman Durka, CEO of Fujitsu Technology Solutions Polska, said, “If some countries choose not to adopt the energy and climate package, enterprises may decide to relocate production to countries whose legal systems are less restrictive in this area.”

According to Prof. Piotr Czaja from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, coal is bound to remain the main source of energy for Poland in the years to come. “We cannot escape from coal,” Czaja said. “For that reason, we have to pursue solutions that ensure higher efficiency while being safe to the environment.”

Andrzej Siemaszko, director of the Polish National Contact Point for EU Research Programs, said, “The only option is to develop clean coal technology. With its vast experience and scientific achievements, Poland could lead the way in the EU in new coal technology.” Poland’s energy security could increase owing to domestic shale gas deposits. The total volume of Polish shale gas is estimated at up to 1.3 trillion cubic meters.

“We know that Poland has rock formations that could potentially contain shale gas,” said Andrzej Maksym, a department director at oil and gas extraction company PGNiG. According to Maksym, industrial extraction of shale gas could begin no earlier than in a decade. Clean energy is a priority for the energy policy of both Poland and the EU as a whole. The term refers to energy obtained from fossil fuels, nuclear power and renewable energy. “In order to ensure energy supply at a level anticipated in the coming 20 years, Poland has to supplement its electrical power balance by building nuclear power plants,” said Hanna Trojanowska, a deputy minister responsible for nuclear power. According to Trojanowska, in 2030 nuclear power should account for almost 16 percent of Poland’s energy mix and so the planned construction of nuclear power plants in the country is the biggest challenge in the history of the Polish economy after World War II. The Economy Ministry is working on legislation to give a legal basis for the nuclear power sector in Poland. “Under the government’s decisions from last year, the first Polish nuclear power plant should be completed by 2020 and I believe the date is realistic,” Trojanowska said.

The EU energy and climate package aims to increase the role of green energy to 20 percent of the total energy mix by 2020, but for Poland this requirement has been lowered to 15 percent. “I am confident Poland will manage to meet this requirement by carrying out hundreds, if not thousands, of small projects,” said the National Contact Point’s Siemaszko. He added that wind farms and biogas plants are in line for the most rapid development, under Poland’s energy policy guidelines.

Developing clean energy technology is as vital as making energy savings and that does not only apply to the most energy-consuming industries. It is estimated that 2 percent of the global emissions of greenhouse gases are generated by the IT sector, conference participants said. The amount is equal to greenhouse gases emitted by the aviation industry worldwide. A growing number of IT companies and other businesses are seeking to improve the energy efficiency of their products and production processes as part of “green IT” projects. “Energy efficiency is of key importance to businesses, but little can be achieved without educating the public about environmental protection,” said Fujitsu Technology Solutions’ Durka.

Scandinavian companies pay special attention to environmental protection. According to Staffan Henriksson, president of Ericsson Polska, “A company that does its best to be environmentally friendly enhances its competitiveness.”

While it is highly important to introduce new technology and save energy, such projects will have little impact on the country’s energy security unless they are accompanied by the construction of new infrastructure, conference participants said. Prof. Krzysztof Żmijewski, secretary-general of the Social Council of the National Emission Reduction Program, warned that Poland has an antiquated power engineering system that has a negative effect on the country’s energy security. Spending cuts in the energy sector have taken their toll on both power plants and transmission lines. “This can all be remedied, but it will take enormous funds for investment,” Żmijewski said.

According to Marek Woszczyk, deputy president of the Energy Regulatory Office, the Polish energy market is yet to become fully competitive and so it needs more regulation than other, mature markets. “Regulation is important and should be applied, though only when necessary,” Woszczyk said.