Goal: Poland – leader in the field of CCS. Step one: political and legal frameworks

CCS has the potential to become a “Polish Nokia” – said Minister Henryk Jacek Jezierski during the conference on carbon capture and storage (CCS), organized in Warsaw by demosEUROPA and the British Embassy to Poland on 13 January 2010. The event served as a platform for discussion about vital issues related to the implementation of the CCS technology in Poland. The questions raised included the importance of CCS in the Polish Energy Policy until 2030 and the progress in the preparation of the Polish CCS law. Agata Hinc presented her report on “How to efficiently implement CCS in Poland?”. During CCS roundtable, we discussed European experiences on CCS implementation and deployment with experts from Norway, Germany and Poland.
 

Ms Elżbieta Wróblewska, Senior Specialist in the Energy Department of the Ministry of Economy, confirmed that the government is in favor of CCS development in Poland and therefore it supports the execution of two CCS demonstration projects: in Bełchatów and in Kędzierzyn. Nevertheless, the government is still waiting for the EU to ensure that both Polish projects are on the list of flagships and that both will supported from the EU budget. Ms Wróblewska underlined that the Polish government is supporting not only CCS but also other clean coal technologies (e.g. underground coal gasification), although those also demand further research which would prove their viability and efficiency. Elżbieta Wróblewska said that the Ministry of Economy is considering the possibility of including CCS and energy efficiency into the list of Priorities for the Polish EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2011.

Minister Henryk Jacek Jezierski, Chief National Geologist, presented a detailed programme of work on the revision of the Polish Geological and Mining Law. Poland must implement the EU CCS Directive by June 2011. However, the eventual shape of new law will largely depend on the identification of actual possibilities of storage of CO2 in Poland. In this respect, of crucial importance will be the results of the national programme „Assessment of formations and structures for safe CO2 geological storage, including monitoring plans”. This year CO2 will be pumped into complexes of saline aquifers indentified close to Bełchatów. The results of this programme should be unveiled by the end of the year. Minister Jezierski assured that the Polish government will support CCS, provided that the tests prove its efficiency and security. He underlined that, if the tests are successful, CCS has a potential of becoming a “Polish Nokia”.

Mr Piotr Tulej, Head of Unit 'Energy and Environment' in the DG Environment outlined the actions of European Commission in the area of CCS. The EC will created a special Information Exchange Group, including decision-makers and experts from Member States, which will aim at coordination of implementation of the CCS Directive. In April draft implementation guidelines should be published, while their final version is planned for October or November.

At the end of the first panel, Agata Hinc, Project Leader “Low Emission Economy” at demosEUROPA, presented key points of her recent report. She underlined that Poland should actively participate in the development of CCS because this technology is crucial in a country heavily dependent on coal and with large potential storage sites for CO2. What is more, CCS creates an opportunity for Poland to become a leader in one of the key elements in the transformation of the global energy sector. This will demand a lot of work and money at the initial stage but will bring outstanding benefits in the future, measured not only in money but also in prestige. Thanks to CCS Poland may strengthen its position in the emerging new global order – she concluded.

In the second half of the event, a CCS roundtable took place. Speakers were: Mette Karine Gravdahl Agerup from the Norwegian Ministry of Oil and Energy; Gabriela von Goeme, CCS Advisor to the German Ministry of Environment; and Paweł Magierowski from Baker&McKenzie. Norway is one of the most experienced and competent countries in the area of CCS - it seems that this country will be the first to open a full-scale CCS plant. According to Mette Karine Gravdahl Agerup, this is due to the fact that CO2 is stored offshore - under the Norwegian continental shelf (belonging to the State) and thus it does not cause social protests. Meanwhile, Germany and Poland are in a different situation: both having good conditions to store CO2 onshore, but still lacking social acceptance for CCS projects. Paweł Magierowski, representing Baker&McKenzie law office (which prepared a report for the Global CCS Institute on CCS laws in different countries around the world) noticed that Poland is in a need of not only appropriate CO2 storage legislation but also of a revision of law connected with CO2 transportation.

Materials:

Report „How to efficiently implement CCS in Poland?”
Speech by Elżbieta Wróblewska
Presentation – Henryk Jacek Jezierski
Presentation – Piotr Tulej
Presentation – Agata Hinc
Presentation - Mette Karine Gravdahl Agerup

Programme

9.30 – 10.00 Coffee and registration

10.00 – 10.10 Welcome and introduction

Paweł Świeboda, President, demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy
H.E. Damian Roderic Todd, Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Poland

10.10 – 10.20 Key note speech - Energy Policy of Poland until 2030 and the role of CCS

Elżbieta Wróblewska, Senior Specialist, Energy Department, Ministry of Economy

10.20 – 10.30 EU CCS directive and implications for the member states

Piotr Tulej, Head of Unit, Energy and Environment, DG Environment, European Commission

10.30 – 10.40 Polish CCS Act – how advanced are we and which international experiences can we use?

Henryk Jezierski, Chief Geologist of Poland, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of the Environment

10.40 – 10.50 Presentation of the report - How to efficiently implement CCS in Poland? Political and legal frameworks

Agata Hinc, Project Leader, Low Emission Economy, demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy

10.50 – 12.20 Roundtable – European best practices and implications for Poland

Mette Karine Gravdahl Agerup, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Norway
Gabriela von Goerne, CCS advisor to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany
Paweł Magierowski, Partner, Baker&McKenzie

Moderator: Paweł Świeboda, President, demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy

12.20 Lunch