Poland has already built the foundations of its energy security, said Minister of State Treasury Wlodzimierz Karpinski at the 2nd Polish Energy Summit conference in Gdansk on Wednesday.
"The Polish energy industry has changed beyond recognition in recent years," Karpinski said. "1,700 megawatts in modern conventional and alternative generating capacity has been added since 2007. Installations with a combined capacity of 5,000 megawatts are now under construction, representing ca. 13 pct of national energy needs," he added.
Capital investments in generating capacity will total 10 billion U.S. dollars and in broadly understood infrastructure and other aspects of energy industry will reach over 20 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, Karpinski said, pointing out that a large part of those projects would be implemented by state treasury companies.
A total of 1,200 km of gas pipelines were built in Poland in the last 7 years and this represented "a leap forward since only 90 km of pipelines were built in the years 2004-2007," the minister noted. "Poland will have a gas storage potential of 2.2 bln cubic meters in 2014, 1 billion more than 7 years ago. "
The LNG terminal in Swinoujscie will start receiving liquid gas shipments next year and "it is an absolutely crucial project for Poland's energy security because it will secure one third of national consumption," Karpinski went on.
Deputy Minister of State Treasury Zdzislaw Gawlik said at the same conference that the state must have instruments enabling it to "safeguard energy security and influence" state firms to that end. Karpinski explained that "we do not advocate nationalization" (of, for instance, energy companies) "and will continue the process of privatizing state assets, which is slowly nearing completion. The degree of the state's presence in the economy should be minimal but also indispensable and reasonable, especially in view of recent developments in Europe and the world."
The conference in Gdansk is devoted to directions of Poland's energy policy and security of energy supplies. It is attended by over 400 people, including CEOs and top managers of major energy companies and financial institutions.
