New Satirical News in the New Year
No more coal! Trump transition…
This is not news from the Ministry but from the media and pop song environs. A well-known young Polish singer – Roksana Węgiel (who is, incidentally, an excellent dancer) – who has been intensively changing her image (shorter, sexier and with her first husband) for some time, has also decided to undergo a transformation that can partly be considered energetic. The singer has announced that in 2025, her artistic pseudonym will be exclusively Roxie. Thus, it can be regarded that 2025 begins with a successful energy transition, and we are rapidly ending coal.
Polish Presidency. Great expectations, fewer opportunities
This is the second time Poland has assumed the Presidency of the European Union – the previous time was in 2011. As always, it starts with a bump – significant events and, as it happens, some domestic wrangling. This time, however, the primary goals and priorities of the Polish Presidency have been defined, and even in the energy field – and quite sensibly: including energy security, low energy prices and the threat of Chinese competition in the supply of components. As usual, the issues of the Polish Presidency in the EU will mainly be shaken up in the domestic backyard, especially in the context of the upcoming presidential elections. Unfortunately, awareness of what the Presidency means and its real opportunities is quite limited in the public. The typical expectation is that “you can get something done.” Realistically, looking at the structure of the EU, the possibilities to “get things done” are significantly limited, as the Presidency only gives some influence in shifting the centre of gravity of the parliament’s work and European discussions on selected topics (in this case, precisely energy priorities). Unfortunately, the Polish Presidency will not be able to arrange the abolition or modification of the ETS system, cheap credits for constructing nuclear reactors, a fast-track notification of aid to the mining industry, or additional gifts for farmers – for which the opposition will severely criticize it. Instead, we should wait, according to the proverb “to three times the charm” – maybe by the following Presidency, expectations will be more realistic, priorities even better, and actions as pragmatic as possible, without another internal election.
At the end of BRELL, only BR is left with excess energy and problems.
This is more optimistic and, fortunately, not satirical at all. February 2025 marks the end of BRELL (the Russian power grid synchronization zone, converted from the Soviet IPS/UPS). BRELL is an acronym for the first letters of the countries using the system: Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The alternative to Soviet synchronization was the Western UCPTE system, which Poland joined as early as 1995 (now functions as ENTSO-E). Ukraine freed itself from Russian synchronization a week before the 2022 invasion – a trial switch to synchronization with ENTSO-E was made, and it remained that way after February 22, 2022 (although connections to the West were three times weaker than those to Belarus and Russia). From the beginning of February 2025, BRELL will leave Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (thanks to, among other things, the current connection to Poland and the future Harmony Link). Belarus and Russia are left in their isolated arrangement, with large surpluses of electricity (including from the Belarusian nuclear power plant), a lack of export opportunities, and problems with the Kaliningrad region, which will be its island-based on local sources for some time (an additional submarine cable with Russia will probably have to be built). Having lost access to the European market for coal, oil and gas (only one southern line is currently in operation after the closure of transit through Ukraine, and LNG remains the only option, which the Polish Presidency may eliminate), Russia is also losing its ability to export energy, which saddens no one. The measure of Russian desperation is already being measured by repeated attempts to sever undersea cross-border cables in the Baltic.
Endless hit list at Cabinet meetings – wind and nuclear
The Prime Minister’s Office has its usual meetings, usually on Tuesdays. This year, it’s clear what energy will be on the agenda for the meetings – the old blockbusters of 2024 and earlier, namely the windmill bill and nuclear financing. The latter (i.e., how to allocate PLN 60 billion in bonds for the project) may come up this week, and the windmill law amendment (a promise from last year) is just around the corner. Referring to the radio charts – as it is always known, the best to let go is the Evergreens. So if at the NPRM we add mining (deal and subsidies) and energy price freezing to the atom and wind, we have a set, as we do every year.