Energy sector transformation and Nord Stream 2
Risks and Trends 2018 Preview 2018-01-31Energy panels at Risks and Trends 2018
| Title of the panel | Time | Participants |
|---|---|---|
| "Will Poland have the most expensive electricity in Europe" | 2.30 pm-3.30 pm | Marta Gajęcka, deputy head of the Polish Electricity Association Krzysztof Kilian, Member of the Supervisory Board, CD Projekt Wojciech Myślecki, Member of the Supervisory Board, KGHM Robert Tomaszewski, Senior Energy Analyst, Polityka Insight (chair) |
| "Electromobility, climate change and Nord Stream 2 in 2018" | 4.00 pm-5.00 pm |
Jack Ewing, author of “Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal” |
Starting point
On February 5, for the third time, 350 people from the world of business, diplomacy and politics will meet at the annual Polityka Insight Risks and Trends conference at Hotel InterContinental in Warsaw. In the course of the day, leading experts from Europe and the US will set out what opportunities and threats 2018 brings. For the first time, the topics will include those linked with our new services, PI Finance and PI Energy, as well as technologies. In the section devoted to energy, we will talk about the trends in the sector - the directions of the the transformation of the sector in Poland, Nord Stream 2 and the low emission future of the auto industry.
Key points
Will Polish electricity be the most expensive in Europe? Electricity prices on the wholesale market in Poland are among the highest in the region. Power plants are old and fuelled by costly coal as neighbouring countries take advantage of cheap RES and nuclear plants. Poland is also one of the most isolated markets in Europe. While cheap power does flow into the market, it is through a narrow stream because networks at the borders have low bandwidth. The electricity sector benefits from this because there is not enough power supply to threaten large coal-powered plants, but the industry loses out. We will talk with Wojciech Myślecki from the KGHM supervisory board about whether companies, in search for cheaper electricity, will start their own power plants.
Costly transformation of the national energy sector. Customers will have to bear additional costs to ensure the security of supply, but also to increase the use of RES and cogeneration. At the same time, power utilities will have to begin the painful move away from coal in order to bring themselves in line with European regulations. As part of the massive reform of the EU energy market, Brussels will put pressure on Poland to open itself up to electricity from neighbouring countries. We will talk about how Poland will adapt to the changes in EU energy and climate law with Marta Gajęcka, Deputy Head of the Polish Electricity Association, and Krzysztof Kilian, former CEO of PGE.
RES picking up speed. In 2017, global spending on RES rose to USD 333.5 billion, or 3 per cent more than the previous year. This is mainly thanks to China, which invested more in green energy than the US and Europe combined. Prices are also tumbling - already in 2020 power generated by new wind and sun farms should be cheaper than electricity from mined fuels. The changes are not taking place only in the generation area. On December 1, 2017, the world's largest lithium-ion battery began to supply electricity for the Australian network. The 100 MW battery was built by Tesla. We will discuss the growing role of green energy with Heli Antila, Chief Technology Officer at Finnish Fortum.
What's ahead for Nord Stream 2. The German-Russian pipeline is the most controversial energy project in Europe today. The first line became operational in 2011 and launched an ongoing debate on Europe's energy independence, solidarity related to the security of deliveries and the EU policy toward Ukraine. Gazprom's plans to increase the capacity of the pipeline (Nord Stream 2) further intensified the discussion. How is the project percieved in Russia and Poland? Why can't Europe come up with a common stance on the project? Can US sanctions block its completion? We will talk about this with Henry Foy, the Financial Times correspondent in Russia.
How will the auto industry adjust to low emissions? The Volkswagen emission scandal hurt the company's reputation and sales. The scandal is a problem mainly on the US market. In Europe, the actions aimed at dealing with the controversy were limited and the brand was not significantly hurt. How is it possible that Europe, whilst leading in the area of climate protection, did not discover the affair before the US regulators? Can the scandal be a turning point in the development of the auto industry? Do auto companies work for the benefit of the consumer? We will talk about this with Jack Ewing, a New York Times reporter and the author of "Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal".
