Energy Towards galactic energy civilization

“We have to save, but not at any cost. We need to learn how to conserve Sweden produces as much elec- energy and how to produce it locally. But we should not be poor in energy: tricity as Poland, which means that its per-capita consumption is four if we are to be a ‘normal’ member of the European Union we should be times higher than in our country able to afford energy-efficient workplaces and homes provided with all and two times higher than in Ger- many. On the other hand, in the past the necessary amenities, like air-conditioning, household appliances, 30 years Sweden’s GDP has grown by and IT, radio and television equipment,” Andrzej Sikora, president of almost 80% while its annual elec- tricity consumption has remained Instytut Studiów Energetycznych Sp. z o.o. (ISE), a research and consulting more or less stable. company for the energy market, tells “Polish Market’s” Jerzy Bojanowicz. If a Pole uses four times less elec- tricity than a Swede then why should we save and reduce consumption? It is impossible to compare the energy mar- kets of Poland and Sweden. Our neigh- Will we have a shortage of electric- and gas market. The improved infra- bours produce as much as 85% of their ity in 2016? structure is one of the factors ensur- electricity from hydropower and nu- There may be some local shortages ing the stability of the system. clear power. Meanwhile, Polish rivers in Poland. But since we are integrat- do not have enough hydropower capac- ed with the European Union’s ener- And what about negawatts? ity to justify the construction of water gy system (ENTSO-E/UCTE)1, we will This program, prepared by PSE Op- power stations while the nuclear pro- probably be importing electricity – and erator, is among the cheapest ener- gram is still in its infancy. much more of it than we now expect. gy conservation programs. It is an at- However, the Swedes also have some However, I do not think there will be tempt to adjust electricity consumption problems. The Ustka-Karlshamn sub- any blackouts. We have already expe- to the generation potential. In oth- marine power cable is used to export Andrzej Sikora rienced such situations, but they re- er words, it is about persuading con- Polish electricity to Sweden because president of Instytut Studiów sulted from bad weather and affected sumers not to use peak electricity and there is a shortage of electricity in the Energetycznych isolated areas. The blackouts that may paying them for that. southern part of the country compared Sp. z o.o. (ISE) take place in four years’ time would be If we look at present electricity con- to regions located in the north. Electric- caused by shutdowns of power gener- sumption levels, it turns out that elec- ity from the hydroelectric power sta- ating units. And since we will not man- tricity consumed during peak hours tions built in the north is transmitted age to build by that time new gener- accounts for only 5-7% of the gener- at a distance of 1,600 kilometres – the ating units to replace the old ones we ating capacity while the price of this resulting losses are higher than those will have to import electricity. electricity is not prohibitively high. generated by Poland’s whole obsolete Unfortunately, building special peak power grid. But we do not have a sufficient units is still not economically justi- The statistical figures you have cit- number of cross-border connec- fied in Poland. ed show that each country is governed tions. Electricity generation costs are still by its own rules. Poland will be making At present, their number is suffi- too high in Poland and electricity is still savings but they will mostly result from cient. However, in keeping with the too expensive compared to the neigh- an improvement in energy efficiency. EU programme, new gas and electricity bouring countries. But we still have connections are being built. By 2014 the much capacity for improving the effi- Will the single electricity mar- EU wants to create a single electricity ciency of electricity generation. ket be a panacea for the problems

1 ENTSO-E / UCTE – Union for the Coordination of the Transmission of Electricity. On 1 July 2009 UCTE was wound up. All operational tasks were trans- ferred to ENTSO-E. In its final year of existence, UCTE represented 29 transmission system operators of 24 countries in continental Europe. The Union for the Coordination of the Transmission of Electricity coordinated the operation and development of the electricity transmission grid for the Continen- tal European synchronously operated transmission grid, thus providing a reliable platform to all participants of the Internal Electricity Market and beyond. Since 1951, the Union for the Coordination of Production and Transmission of Electricity (UCPTE) had coordinated synchronous operations through meetings of experts and managers from at first a small number of interconnected companies at the interface of Switzerland, France and Germany, and over various stages from a growing number of companies and countries. The UCPTE’s operational and planning recommendations helped ensure reliable supply of electricity in Continental Europe. In 1999, UCTE re-defined itself as an association of TSOs in the context of the Internal Energy Market. Building on its experience with recommendations, UCTE turned to make its technical standards more binding through the Operation Handbook and the Multi-Lateral Agreement between its members. These stand- ards became indispensable for the reliable international operation of the high voltage grids which are all working at one “heart beat”: the 50 Hz UCTE frequency re- lated to the nominal balance between generation and the electricity demand of some 500 million people in one of the biggest electrical synchronous interconnec- tions worldwide. www.entsoe.eu ::

22 :: polish market :: 9 /2012 Energy

associated with the need to shut green as well. Being clean among the adopted in 2009. The energy policy took down old generating units? “dirty” is a doubtful pleasure. into account the obligations Poland had The panacea will be the new gener- It has been calculated that the taken on when signing the treaty of ating units which we have to build, in- 30% emissions reduction the EU accession to the European Union, in- cluding coal-fired ones with efficien- has pushed for is equivalent to the cluding the obligations concerning re- cy higher by at least 5-7% compared to amount of emissions China produces ductions in carbon dioxide emissions. the existing units. However, the big- over two weeks. We should consider They meant the need to build one or gest problem of the Polish power sys- if it is worthwhile to go it alone. Per- two nuclear power plants and to build tem is the old transmission network haps our priority should be to seek al- and subsidize high-capacity renewa- built in the 1970s. lies for our emissions reduction pro- ble energy sources. By 2030 the con- gramme instead. sumption of natural gas was to increase But replacing a generating unit takes by less than 10%, of which 600 mil- time. What do you think about nuclear lion cubic metres was designated for a It is impossible to modernize the power? new gas-fired heat and power gener- power sector within the time span from I am its enthusiast. I studied solid ating plant. At present, there are plans one election to another. Here, a period of state physics and regard nuclear pow- to build several or perhaps more than three or four years means “tomorrow”. er generation as one of the cleanest and 10 such plants. A horizon of at least 10-12 years is need- sophisticated technologies. But I hope Methane, with the chemical for- ed, coupled with a stable environment. that in 30-50 years humankind will be mula CH4, contains four atoms of hy- It is already clear that we will not able to produce hydrogen – first, from drogen. The implication is that we may manage to build the planned coal-fired methane, which is in abundance on the transform our global civilization into generating units by 2015 or 2016. On the Earth. It is true that the greenhouse a galactic one. Once we have learnt to other hand, because of the current level effect of methane is 20 times stronger efficiently produce hydrogen from -wa of gas prices and its consumption, in- than that of carbon dioxide but meth- ter (H2O) and methane, I hope we will vestors will have big problems with ac- ane stays in the atmosphere for a much go on to master nuclear fusion. quiring funding for the construction of shorter time. gas-fired units. The biggest problem associated with What kind of energy mix will Po- At least 10-12 years are needed to nuclear power in Poland is a shortage land have in 20 or 30 years’ time? carry out the nuclear power programme of knowledge about it. The share of natural gas and renew- and this also requires finding the sourc- able energy sources will increase but es of funding. Renewable energy sourc- What are you proud of as president the share of coal, especially lignite, will es cannot form the basis for the power of the ISE company? still be high – up to 60%. And since the system in a country like Poland. ISE is an independent private con- costs of extracting shale gas from a sin- sulting company, but not a lobbying gle licence area run into tens of billions But the EU wants most of its ener- one. We tell our customers the truth of zlotys, I do not believe we will have gy to come from renewable sources because they should take decisions a nuclear power plant by that time. Es- because by 2050 it wants to reduce based on the best available knowledge. pecially if the documented shale gas re- carbon dioxide emissions by 80% We provide them that knowledge and serves turn out to be large - as I believe compared with the 1990 level. At this is why some call us “strange ad- they will - and Poland will see the same the meeting of the EU Transport, visers.” revolution as the one that has already Telecommunications and Energy ISE works not only with large Pol- taken place in the United States. But Council on June 15, Poland vetoed ish energy and gas companies. Its suc- Poland will not be able to cope on its this proposal of the EU Council. cess is that over the recent seven years own - either with gas or nuclear power. But how long can we protest sin- it has also signed contracts for advisory I also hope I will live long enough to gle-handedly? services with the biggest US, Canadian see the times when everyone will have I think that the EU has lost the and EU corporations. It gives us great at home an atomic pile the size of the sharpness of vision in this respect. In satisfaction that our company, set up gas stoves which are now widely used. 2010, carbon dioxide emissions from with the Central European market in The elements used as the fuel will be safe the Icelandic volcano were higher than mind and focused on oil and gas – on because it will not be possible to build the EU countries managed to produce what we call the monetization of these an atomic bomb with them. in the past 30 years. Let us remem- hydrocarbons for the petrochemical, For the time being, I would like eve- ber that the 500 million people liv- chemical and energy industries – is in ryone to be aware what it means “to ing in the EU are responsible for 7% sync with the revolution triggered by be profitable” in the context of ener- of the global carbon dioxide emis- gas from unconventional sources, that gy balance, to know what it means to sions. As much as 70% of the emissions is shale gas. We are now preparing a switch on a wind turbine and why we comes from transport and 10-15% from report on Polish shale gas deposits for have to build biogas plants, and to have industry and the power sector. This one of our customers. basic knowledge about nuclear power. means that the overall reduction to be It is thanks to us, in a way, that nat- I hope we will become a galactic civi- achieved under the directive specify- ural gas will have its due place in the lization and will stop using exclusive- ing the 20-20-20 targets is less than Polish energy sector instead of the mi- ly renewable energy sources – coal and 1.5%. I like to be “clean and green,” nor importance it was given by the gov- oil are also renewable sources only their but I would like others to be clean and ernment in its energy policy until 2030 renewal takes longer. ::

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