GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. and the Polish Power Exchange are entering into cooperation in order to create

Photo of the article GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. and the Polish Power Exchange are embarking on cooperation in the scope of creating a gas exchange market in Poland in accordance with the provisions of the Third Energy Package and the regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council on Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT). As part of the collaboration, working groups have been formed in the companies, which will prepare the legal, organisational and technical solutions aiming at commencing with gas trade on the exchange. Currently, a draft of the Transmission Network Code is being prepared, allowing the introduction of a trade hub (so-called ‘virtual point’) and collaboration with POLPX S.A. The proposals of changes to the Code will soon be presented to the market participants for consultation.
“Gas trade on an exchange is one of the elements of building a competitive gas market. Together with the Polish Power Exchange we would like to make such a solution available to the market participants in Poland and to contribute to its liberalisation”  Jan Chadam, President of the Management Board of GAZ-SYSTEM S.A., commented.
“The process of creating a free gas market is complex and requires the cooperation of all of its participants. Similarly to the PSE Operator S.A. in the electricity sector, GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. constitutes the most important element in the technical and logistics infrastructure of the gas market, whereas POLPX in the trade infrastructure, what with being a guarantor of the transparency of the concluded transactions. The collaboration embarked on by both companies is an important step towards the liberalisation of the Polish gas market,” Grzegorz Onichimowski, President of the Polish Power Exchange SA. asserted. 

***

The Gas Transmission Operator GAZ-SYSTEM S.A.  is a strategic company for the Polish economy responsible for natural gas transmissions throughout Poland. The Company manages assets worth in excess of 5 bn PLN comprised mainly of elements of the transmission system, e.g. more than 9.7 thousand km of high pressure pipelines, 15 compressor stations, 56 hubs and 970 exit points. The Company employs over 2,000 people.
GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. will build over 1,000 km of new gas transmission pipelines by 2014.  The most important will be constructed in North Western and Central Poland (Szczecin-Lwówek, Świnoujście-Szczecin, Szczecin-Gdańsk, Włocławek-Gdynia, Rembelszczyzna-Gustorzyn, and Gustorzyn-Odolanów), as well as in Lower Silesia (Polkowice-Żary, and Jeleniów-Dziwiszów). The development of the gas pipeline network in Poland may constitute an important element of the North – South Gas Corridor joining the LNG terminal in Świnoujście with the planned Adria LNG terminal and with the Nabucco gas pipeline with the aid of the internal transmission infrastructure of Central European countries.
GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. has also developed gas pipelines in Lower Silesia, which will enable the off-take of greater volumes of gas from the western direction. It will be possible to transport up to 1.5 bcm of gas annually (current capacity amounts to 0.9 bcm of gas annually) via the Lasów point on the Polish - German border.
In 2011, GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. completed the construction of the Włocławek-Gdynia gas pipeline, the gas compressor station in Goleniów, and the gas compressor station in Jarosław. The Company has also started up the new Polish - Czech Interconnector, which will enable the transport of approx. 0.5 bcm of gas annually.
The investments fulfilled by GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. in 2011, along with the possibility of using virtual reverse flow services on the Yamal pipeline, have created the technical possibilities for the import to Poland of over 3.3 bcm of gas annually from new sources (approx. 30% of the currently fulfilled imports).
***
The Polish Power Exchange (POLPX) was established at the end of 1999 and its operational activities were started on 30 June 2000 when the first contracts for delivery of electricity were concluded on the so-called Day-Ahead Market. At present, the POLPX runs the following markets: the Day-Ahead Market, the Commodity Derivatives Market with physical delivery, and the Property Rights Market for electricity coming from RES and CHP sources.  The POLPX also holds the Certificate of Origin Register for electricity derived from Renewable Energy Sources and highly efficient CHP units, as well as the CO2 Emission Allowances Market.
GAZ-SYSTEM S.A.
Małgorzata Polkowska, Spokesperson
Tel. +48 22 22-01-546, mobile +48 691-911-217
The Polish Power Exchange
Agnieszka Czarnowska
POLPX Marketing Director
aczarnowska@tge.pl
Tel. 600 409 800 
Agnieszka Krawczyk
ComPress S.A.
akrawczyk@compress.com.pl
Tel. 695 360 871