Enea power expects Kozienice natgas power plant to be launched in 2029/2030

Listed power group Enea expects the Kozienice natural gas power plant tender to be finalised in a few months. The launch of the investment is planned in 2029-2030, Enea's CEO Grzegorz Kinelski told Energy Days conference in Katowice.

"The natural gas projects are currently in the tender phase, with it being made so that one or two units can be constructed. (...) We are in the middle of the proceedings and, I think, we will know in a few months what the results will be, as of now, we are planning a launch between 2029 and 2030, with full power and capacity for the system," Kinelski said.

"We want to focus on flexibility with this investment, on the most modern units possible, hydrogen ready, which will be able to be integrated into CCS systems in the future," he added.

As the CEO informed, the project will be a so-called greenfield investment.

"This is not a replacement of coal units by the gas units, but a new completely separate investment. This will be faster to construct and more viable," Kinelski said.

He added that the goal of the investment is, among other factors, providing safety for the power system.

"Coal is being pushed out of the energetic mix automatically. This is happening faster than previously forecasted," Kinelski said.

"We need to replace coal with natural gas and RES. Currently, the old coal units and even the 1000 MW newest one are working, maybe not at the technical minimum, but the whole power plant is working at around 30 to 40 percent of its yearly technical capacity," he added.

Enea's CEO announced that the group's eight coal units of 200 MW power each and two units of 500 MW power each are approaching their technical - and perhaps even economic - end sooner than expected.

pel/ mik/ ao/