UPDATE: Poland's energy security agency NABE with no economic justification, says state assets min.
There is no economic justification for the National Energy Security Agency (NABE) project; additional support mechanisms for coal sources need to be developed at the European Union level, Poland' state assets minister Jakub Jaworowski told a conference, presenting the conclusions of the team working on the coal assets spinoff.
According to the assessment of the team appointed by the state assets minister, it is crucial for the security of the National Power System to implement mechanisms ensuring stable energy and power supplies at socially acceptable costs, regardless of the ownership structure of the installations.
"Given the current situation on the energy market and forecasts for its development until 2040, the concept of consolidating all coal assets from energy companies within NABE is not economically justified," Jaworowski told a meeting with journalists.
"The projected cumulative financial gap of the 14 coal-fired power plants to be included in NABE, covering cash balances, liabilities of generating companies and cash flows, would be negative in the years 2025-2040, reaching PLN 53.8 billion," he added.
Poland's state assets minister pointed out that one of the arguments in favour of creating NABE was the belief that spinning off coal assets would enable energy groups to obtain financing for the transition.
"Meanwhile, an analysis of the companies' activities and strategies shows that they are able to finance new investments, even while maintaining coal-fired power plants within the groups' structures, using, among other things, bond issues or project finance," Jaworowski said.
Wojciech Wrochna, the government's representative for strategic energy infrastructure, announced that the government will work on a mechanism to extend the functioning of the capacity market.
"This is not just a simple extension of the capacity market for another few years, but a mechanism that will ensure energy security on the one hand and, on the other, provide the cheapest possible energy for the system and the most comfortable decarbonisation for companies," Wrochna stressed.
He added that Poland has already been in preliminary talks with the European Union, emphasising that these are still assumptions, a working draft.
Minister Wrochna preliminarily assumes that the new mechanisms could operate for 10 years, starting in 2029, but he points out that this requires agreement with the European Commission.
pr/ ao/