The 590 Congress is a cyclical economic event held since 2016. It brings together prominent people from around the country, representatives of the world of politics and experts. This year’s seventh edition of the 590 Congress focused on the region’s challenges. Economic security, joint initiatives, food economy, and the development of political relations were discussed. Ecology, energy and transport also occupied an important place in the congress’ discussions.
The 590 Congress in Nadarzyn near Warsaw and State Treasury companies. The role of State Treasury companies in getting through the economic downturn without being affected by it. Some analysts and experts say that a recession is coming, but not only to us because the recession is to affect the whole world. There is a special role for state-owned companies in emerging from this crisis, from this slowdown. How do you address this? Television Republika journalist Jolanta Pawlak asked the Vice-president for the Strategy and Development of Enea Lech Żak.
“If you look at the results and increased energy supply we sell, you don’t see a recession. Quite the opposite for today, after the slowdown, we see an increase in energy consumption. I am not talking about value consumption but quantity consumption. And here, our basic task is to ensure the energy supply in a safe, socially acceptable, ecological manners and acceptable to our consumers. We have over 2 700 000 customers in our company, with different professions, wealth and awareness statuses. And here, our role is not only business but also a mission, which we carry out through such activities as outreach. We carry them out through events of all kinds related to an ecological approach to energy consumption and production but also matters related to technological exclusion,” Lech Żak answered.
JP: We have a war. When we were to talk about the need to become independent of Russian energy carriers and refer to a green energy strategy, what would we say today? In terms of technological innovation. Where do you get your ideas from? Where does your company get business entities that help in the implementation of the energy transition?
LŻ: Here, I will refer to today’s event that takes place at the congress in Gdynia, the signing of a letter of intent with a US company for cooperation in the use of their technologies related to leading nuclear power plants. It is such a different approach compared to what we already have in our market, like KGHM with Tauron or Orlen with Lotos. Our idea is micro-scale up to 20 megawatts, which can be used as so-called distributed energy, really distributed according to the needs of urban and large consumers. It is the most advanced technology.
JP: You talk about a letter of intent with a US company for small nuclear reactor modules, then I want to ask whether they will power cities, towns, or whole communities. What is the capacity of such a system?
LŻ: It is enormous. As of today, we are seeing applications to power small towns with an intake of 20 megawatts. The thermal energy, domestic water, home heating or other process heat is associated with this.
JP: I want to ask a little bit about this sponsorship activity. What does it look like at Enea? Because it’s a crucial branch and not much is said about it.
LŻ: The company has many activities here, starting with typical sports sponsorship. Like most companies, Enea tries to promote its brand through sponsorships and hopes to get a return on that. But we also think about small communities, where we reach out to those audiences because they also expect this support. And here, we see particular support related to the education of young people, and we have an open programme related to the education of the broader electrical industry, which at present does not have such dedicated schools for photovoltaics. Our employees participate as lecturers in these schools. We are counting on young people to understand our needs, identify with us and be ready with what we need. That is not all. We also have issues related to the broader propagation of our so-called identity, the knowledge of what has been.