Safety of Polish Metropolises - debate

Date: 
25 February 2009 (Wednesday)
Energy safety of Polish Metropolises 
                 
25 February 2009, 10.00 a.m.
Polish Press Agency (PAP), ul. Bracka 6/8, Warsaw
               
Debate is organised together with:
The Union of Polish Metropolises
 
 
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Until recently, there was a general conviction that the problem of instable energy supply, which often appears in areas with a low level of urbanization, does not concern Polish Metropolises. However, recent experience, i.e. the last blackouts in North-Eastern and North-Western Poland (in the summer of 2006 and spring of 2007, respectively),  as well as the last microblackout in Warsaw (summer of 2008) indicate that Polish Metropolises are no longer enclaves of energy safety.

This is especially visible in the case of the metropolis of Szczecin, which did not manage to ward off a breakdown even in spite of the fact that it has the only ring-shaped disappearing system in our country, as well as three power stations in the metropolitan area (two of them actually in the vicinity of the city) and the huge system power station Dolna Odra. These events show how important it is to adapt local energy sources - power stations and combined heat and power stations - to the regime of working in relation to so-called allocated areas, i.e. to the regime of island work. This requires implementation of modern solutions based on new IT solutions allowing for automatic powering of power stations in cases where they are cut off from the network and so-called auto-start.

The current state of affairs in respect of the above is described in two reports: one elaborated by the Chancellery of the President, and the second by a team put together by PSE-Operator; both of these documents show how imperfect the Polish power system is and what delays we face in terms of modernization of transmission networks. So how can we increase the energy safety of metropolitan areas?

It seems that the most effective remedy could be prevention. This concerns, for example, the effects of the breakdown - it is cheaper to prevent these effects from coming into existence than to correct them. Moreover, in light of the fact that buying allowances for CO2 emission and restructuring of the technological infrastructure and transmission are now so necessary, it seems that the particularly essential challenge is reduction of power consumption by both businesses and individual citizens.

Participants of the debate will include: representatives of the energy sector and the Union of Polish Metropolises: Vice-Presidents of Cities, Directors of Crisis Managing, representatives of Commission of Plans Integration.
        
Guests invited to participate in the debate include: 
  • Piotr Krzystek - President of Szczecin;
  • Piotr Uszok - President of Katowice
  • Marek Trawinski - Vice-president of the Board, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA;
  • Waldemar Skomudek - Vice-president of the Board, PSE Operator SA;
  • Andrzej Szymanski - President of the Board, Landis + Gyr Sp. z o.o.;
  • Andrzej Rejner - Director of Regulation, Vattenfall Distribution Poland S.A ;
  • Andrzej Lubiatowski - Director of The Union of Polish Metropolises;
  • Wojciech Wlodarczak, President of the Board, Wartsila Polska;
  • Experts from companies such as: IBM, Polkomtel, AT Kearney.

The debate will be chaired by Prof. Krzysztof Zmijewski, President of the Independent Energy Consultancy Board and Coordinator of the Green Effort Group.

            
The meeting will take the form of a discussion based on brief key note speeches by invited guests. Participation in the debate is free of charge.
           
The debate will be recorded - please, visit our web site: http://www.proinwestycje.pl/ and watch video coverage from previous events.

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