Polish Gas Monopoly Moves into Renewables
Polish state gas import and supply monopoly PGNiG is branching out into renewable energy with a commitment to spend up to zlotys 4bn ($1bn) on acquisitions to help build up a 900-MW generating portfolio in the coming few years, it said June 9. It said this would be a hedge against volatile oil and gas prices, whose plummeting value led to huge impairments in its assets this year.
It aims to become the country's leading player in the renewable energy sector and has already committed to spend money developing hydrogen projects, but with only a modest initial investment. It said it would focus first on existing or advanced wind and photovoltaic power projects.
CEO Jerzy Kwiecinski said: “Entering a new business line... will allow us not only to build the value of the company, to increase and stabilise its revenue, but also to engage more intensively in the transformation towards a low-carbon and zero-emission economy."
PGNiG said there were plenty of wind and photovoltaic projects on the market for it to buy, but it would also seek to build its own development competencies using sites and areas that it owns.
PGNiG believes that renewables "will help stabilise its financial performance. Renewable energy sources are not sensitive to movements in hydrocarbon prices, which have a strong effect on such segments of the PGNiG Group’s business as exploration and production, and trade and storage."