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Energy sector in Poland

Figurę 5. Structure of the production of heat by fuel used in 2012.

Source: Energy Regulatory Office, Heat power engineering in numbers 2012

In 2012, licensed heating companies operated grids spanning 19.8 thousand km, including heating grids connecting sources of heat with heat centers and low-parameters grids (external receiving installations).

Polish gas market

In 2012, Poland's demand for natural gas (adjusted against change of stock) amounted to 15.6 billion m³. As compared to 2011, this represented a growth by over 4%. 28% of the demand was catered for by exploitation of domestic deposits, 58% by import from Russia, Azerbaijan and countries of Central Asia, 11% by import from Germany and 3% from the Czech Republic.¹

Despite considerable import of gas from Russia, Poland remains one the countries of the EU that is least dependent on the import of gas. Actions seeking to further increase the security of supplies cover, among others, increasing capacities for import from Western Europeans, expanding underground gas storages, and investments in the LNG terminal in Świnoujście.

The largest Polish producer and importer of gas in the Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe I Gazownictwo (PGNiG) group of companies. Polish gas deposits lie primarily in Southern and Western Poland. According to specialists, Poland may have considerable potential in exploitation of shale gas.

Source: Report of the Minister of the Economy on the results of monitoring the security of the supply of gas fuels from 1 January 2012 to 31 December2013.