Wednesday 25 February 2015
Polish Power Exchange celebrates 15 years of its establishment
Polish Power Exchange (TGE), to celebrate fifteen
years of its activities, awarded statuettes of “Jubilee Megawatts”. The Board of
TGE honored people who played a significant role in shaping Polish energy
sector and directly contributed to the development of Polish Power Exchange,
for their contribution to the liberalization of the Polish energy sector.
Monday 16 February 2015
Poland might be given 1 billion euro fine, due to the high levels of air pollution
Poland is facing a threat
of 1 billion euro penalty from the EU for its levels of air pollution. Poland, for
years, has been having the most polluted air in the EU. In many cities, the
concentration of toxic and carcinogenic substances - of PM10 and benzo-pyrene exceeds legal limits a few times.
Saturday 14 February 2015
Renegotiation of Yamal gas supply contract
PGNiG ( Polska Grupa Naftowa I Energetyczna; English:
Polish Oil and Gas Group) has been pursuing dialogue with Gazprom on the Yamal gas
contract renegotiation. According to experts, the chances of success of the
negotiations are slim. Experts draw attention to the situation on the international
oil and gas market, current political situation, as well as the conditions that
Russia can currently export the resources.
Tuesday 10 February 2015
Orange Polska, telecommunication company, becomes new electricity provider
Orange Polska decided to become new electricity
provider, after getting positive results of the pilot test of the service.
Orange Polska has been, so far, providing only
telecommunication services such as Internet, phones and television.
Offer prepared by Orange Polska will be dedicated to
the individual households, as well as small enterprises.
Purchase of electricity by Orange Poland, for the
purpose of resale to end users and compulsory purchase of property rights from
certificates of origin of electricity, will take place through a wholesale partner,
the company called “Polenergia”. Orange Polska’s margin will be calculated as a
difference between the cost of electricity purchase and the resale price.
In order to have distribution channels, Orange Polska
has entered into general distribution agreements with five operators of
electricity distribution system, ie. RWE Stoen Operator, Energa-Operator,
Operator Enea, Tauron and PGE Distribution Distribution.
According to the information available at the
website, customers who decide to change electricity provider can save up on
their electricity bill quite significantly.
If one decided to change the electricity provider,
Orange Polska offers “Welcome Package” which is one-time discount for the bill
( which varies form 50 zloty to 150 zloty, depending on the total consumption
of electricity during previous year; the bigger the consumption – the bigger
the discount) and then, given accordingly, monthly discount. For the family
living in the house, the discount can be equal to 150 zl (Welcome Package) + 15
zl/month, saving the family 330 zl a year (approx.. 80 euro) just thanks to the
discount. The prices of reselling should also be pretty competitive, in
comparison to current prices offered by main Polish electricity providers.
What is distinguishing Orange Polska as electricity
provider from other providers, already operating on the market, is
revolutionary system of billing. Currently, there are officers who are noting
down the state of odometer reading, based on what bills are being calculated (
alternatively, the customer is obliged to provide the company with the
numbers). Orange Polska proposes absolutely new solution. The customer decides
when there is a good time to pursue the payment; one needs to call the
toll-free number or log on to the website and enter the current odometer
reading. Orange, on the basis of the reading, will issue an invoice for
electricity. This is what is said on the promotional sub-site of
the website.
We have taken a look at the conditions of the service
and it does not specify how the company will be able to distinguish customers
who are unreliable from those, who are choosing comfortable method of payment
in the time most convenient for them. From the agreement, it seems that the
rules do not differ from what is already on the market. We will talk to one
of the representatives of Orange Polska and update this information as soon as
possible.
What Orange Polska also offers is prepayment metering
and billing system for providing/receiving electricity, not commonly used on
the Polish market. Having an example of the UK, where most of the rental houses
have such system in place, it can be a good solutions for the property owners
wishing to rent their place, but not willing to change the names on the already
registered meter.
To read
more, go to:
Picture:
https://lintvksnt.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/electric-meter1.jpg
Tuesday 3 February 2015
Companies are resigning from shale gas exploration in Poland
More
and more companies are leaving Poland and their work on the exploration of
shale gas. After ENI, ExxonMobil, Total,
Canadian Oil and Marathon. Chevron announced at the end of January that they
are not going to continue with execution of their exploratory concession either.
Unfortunately,
more companies are deciding to stop shale gas exploration in Poland. Companies,
which are resigning from their plans for drilling and any subsequent
exploitation of shale gas, primarily withdraw foreign companies that already
have some experience in this field. Firms that already resigned from their
Polish concessions for exploratory drilling in recent months are ENI,
ExxonMobil, Total, Canadian Oil and Marathon.
Chevron
announced on the last day of January (2015) that they will not continue the
project in Poland, as the country has ceased to be competitive compared to
other opportunities in the world. The company will continue its activities in
Romania.
Internet
portal “Forsal” points out that past September,
there were given only 68 licenses for shale gas exploration. It is 37 less in
comparison to September 2013. It seems that, over the course of 12 months,
there have been a drop in issuing concessions by more than a third. The
decrease of interest in exploration had been visible already for some time, but
it was not until the drop clearly intensified. In the whole year of 2013, total
number of active licenses decreased by 19, and in the period from January to
August 2014 – by 26.
Biztok.pl had an opportunity to talk
with Andrzej Szczesniak, fuel market specialist, who is convinced that lack of
interest in further shale gas exploration in Poland is due to its small
quantities at the reservoir and high costs of production. Furthermore, recent
commodities prices are not very favourable to the Polish shale gas. Low price
of Brent oil on world markets affects the decrease in gas prices. This in turn
causes the Polish shale gas is becoming less competitive and slows down the
interest in further exploration.
In
case of Chevron, as Szczesniak points out, financial situation of the company
had also significantly influenced decision about leaving Poland. Chevron
profits in the fourth quarter of last year fell by nearly 30 percent compared
to the same period of 2013. Chevron announced, inter alia, a significant delay in
construction of LNG terminal in Canada, translating into additional costs
related to the delay.
Last
but not least, element that might significantly influence the “shale gas
environment” is current shape of Polish mining law (for mining, we mean mining of
coal as well as exploration of fuels such as gas and oil). As many sources
point out, Europe, in comparison to the United States (where shale gas brought
revolution in the energy sector) is much more cautious in the area and attempts
to start the extraction, due to the protests by environmental and political
groups. This statement illustrates very clearly situation in Poland. To be
precise, currently the drilling contractor is responsible for mining damage
that arise during the like poisoning of the groundwater, damage from
earthquakes, road infrastructure, technical development of the area and
buildings. Not many companies, without assistance of the state, are capable and
willing to bear such costs that, sometimes, can be higher than financial bill.
Dealing with the protests of such nature can be very difficult and can
influence the image of a company for many years.
Based on:
http://www.polskieradio.pl/5/3/Artykul/1366509,Chevron-rezygnuje-z-wydobycia-gazu-lupkowego-w-Polsce
Picture:
Shale
gas exploration site, by AECOM, in Poland:
http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/Geographies/Europe/Projects/shale-gas-exploration_poland_mainimg.jpg
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