Forum Wizja Rozwoju (The Vision of Development Forum), under the patronage of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, brought together people from various backgrounds for the fifth time for economic debates. Topics discussed included the most important challenges that the Polish economy has to face, such as energy security, including renewable energy sources or the maritime economy. The role of Poland as a friendly investment destination was also discussed.
Zbigniew Gryglas, former Deputy Minister of State Assets
“Security also costs the price. The price to be paid has a certain important dimension. The government made a very prudent, very important decision a few years ago when adopting Poland’s energy policy, i.e., the one concerning the future of the power sector, that we would build a sector that would be based on many dispersed sources, that we would move away from coal, but that we would do it wisely and economically. This direction we already know today needs to be corrected. These events that are taking place in Ukraine are causing us to revise our approach to security, to the direction of transformation.”
Mariusz Witoński, co-founder and president of the Offshore Wind Energy Society
“It is evident, and it should be emphasised, that we are dealing not with some kind of test, not with a test on the living Polish economy, but with an already established trend that will intensify. We are modernising the Polish energy industry by going out to sea. This perspective is emerging, although it will not be given to us as if by definition. We, as an industry organisation, the Polish Offshore Wind Energy Association, have for 12 years been trying to strongly carry the idea of the development of Polish offshore energy with reindustrialisation, with the revitalisation of the Polish maritime industry, because it is the maritime industry in the conditions of countries developing offshore wind energy that decides about the pace of market development, its efficiency, the rebound effect for the budget (of the state, editor’s note), which, however, will largely finance the use of green energy at sea.”
Jarosław Dybowski, executive director for energy at PKN Orlen S.A.
“We want to create a mix consisting of several thousand megawatts in offshore wind energy sources, supported by gas power plants and then this offshore wind energy together with the regulatory gas power plant constitute a fully available source for the energy system.
Minister Gryglas emphasised the issue of safety here. You cannot build a system based solely on renewable energy sources. They must cooperate either with storage facilities or with gas sources. We are currently working on building nuclear reactors. Not the big ones, because that is not on our scale. We are working on small modular reactors rated 300 mW, which will enter the market after the 2030s (21st century, ed.).”
Grzegorz Strzelczyk, president of Lotos Petrobaltic S.A.
“We are also engaged in geophysical surveys, with a Lithuanian partner we have won a tender for such surveys of the first stage of preparation of infrastructure for wind farms in Lithuania, also by March next year we will conduct these surveys. As far as our Polish area in the Polish economic zone is concerned, we have signed an agreement with two large Polish operators to operate offshore wind farms, and I would like to emphasise the special role of the Industrial Development Agency, which has been such a catalyst and coordinator of the whole process. We are already in technical dialogue as regards the type of units, size and scope of operations. In parallel, we are in talks with Polish shipyards that would be able to supply service units.”
We publish the entire panel discussion in Polish below.