10th International Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) Conference - GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is host to the European gas infrastructure operators

Photo of the article 10th International Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) Conference - GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is host to the European gas infrastructure operators.
 
GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is co-organising the tenth, jubilee International Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) Conference. The GIE Conference has for many years been the most important and most prestigious event in the European gas sector and the first such large event organised in Poland. This year's GIE Conference brought together approx. 350 participants, including the representatives of all the European gas transmission system operators.
 
The first part of the conference was dominated by the Energy Road Map 2050 as the strategic response of the European Union to the challenge in the scope of energy demand. The fulfilment of its premises was acknowledged by the Conference participants as a project demanding cooperation and agreement between numerous parties.

Jean-Claude Depail, the Chairman of Gas Infrastructure Europe, stated that the role of gas for the future of the economies of European Union states will become more and more a function of mutual relations between the decisions of given European Union states concerning the shape of their future energy balance. Natural gas, particularly as a support for renewable energy sources (RES), will enable efficient reactions to the changing production possibilities based on these sources.  He accentuated that Gas Infrastructure Europe organisation is striving to devise a response of operators to the challenges of the energy policy in Europe and is promoting natural gas as the fuel of the future, complementary to other energy sources and vital in the performance of ambitious European environmental protection goals.
 
During his speech to the Conference participants, the Commissioner for Energy, Günther H. Oettinger, highlighted that EU Member States, gas companies and European consumers should have the comfort of making future purchase decisions based on an effective and integrated energy transmission network. A declaration was also made that the responsibility of European transmission system operators for the development of the network will be taken into consideration in the nearest financial perspective and will find support in appropriate level EU institutions.
 
Another important topic discussed at the Conference was the development of new technologies and innovation in the natural gas sector. The extraction of unconventional deposits is in its preparatory stage, but European transmission companies are already analysing the development of these systems in terms of ensuring appropriate transmission capacity.
 
Innovative approaches and ways of thinking along with creation of best solutions for climatic challenges will also be promoted and supported by the European Union so that in the 2050 perspective they will already be able to effectively serve the good of consumers and the climate on an industrial scale.
 
The second day of the Conference was devoted to the extension and deveopment of European natural gas storage capacities. Underground gas storerooms are crucial in creating secure energy markets, essential in optimising the functioning and operations of each transmission system operator's network and effective gas trading.
 
The next panel was about new challenges on a growing LNG market and created the opportunity to exchange best practices of LNG terminal operators.
 
The GIE Conference ended with a discussion about European Network Codes, which are an important tool in the construction of a unified, internal gas market in the European Union. These documents will constitute the grounds for practical cooperation of European transmission system operators, defining, among others, the principles of capacity allocation, balansing and cooperation of transmission systems. Work on the Codes is in progress and market participants, the European Commission and the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) are partaking in the process and are welll on the way of achieving a harmonised European gas market.
 
“It is the ambition of GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. to play a significant role in the development of the regional natural gas market and to work and contribute to eliminating “energy islands" in Europe. For this reason, we are taking an active role in the works of Gas Infrastructure Europe, exchanging experiences and knowledge with our European partners and taking the opportunity that such conferences as today's offer, jointly planning our work for the further integration of transmission networks,” Jan Chadam, President of the Management Board of GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. asserted.

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Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) is representing the common voice of gas infrastructure operators in Europe from the year 2002 and is dealing with issues connected with the transmission and storage of natural gas as well as LNG technologies. GIE has brought together 70 members from 25 European states. The purpose of the organisation is the promotion of stable, reliable and cohesive regulatory frameworks as well as the creation of favourable conditions for the development of the European gas market.  GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. has been a member of this organisation since 2005.

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The Gas Transmission Operator GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is a strategic Polish Company responsible for natural gas transmissions throughout Poland. The Company manages assets worth approx. 5 bn PLN comprised mainly of elements of the transmission system, e.g. more than 9.8 thousand km of high pressure pipelines, 14 compressor stations, 56 hubs and 970 exit points. The Company employs over 2,000 persons. GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is also the owner of the Polskie LNG S.A. Company, which was established to construct the liquefied natural gas terminal (LNG) terminal in Świnoujście.
GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is planning to construct over 1,000 km of new gas pipelines by 2014. The most important will be in north-west and central Poland (Szczecin–Lwówek, Świnoujście–Szczecin, Szczecin–Gdańsk, Rembelszczyzna–Gustorzyn, and Gustorzyn-Odolanów). The development of the gas transmission network in Poland may constitute an important element of the North - South Gas Corridor connecting the LNG terminal in Świnoujście with the planned Adria LNG terminal through the transmission infrastructure of Central European countries.
In 2011, GAZ–SYSTEM S.A. completed the construction of the Włocławek–Gdynia gas pipeline and the gas compressor station in Goleniów and the gas compressor station in Jarosław. The Company has also opened the new Poland–Czech Interconnector, which will enable the transmission of approx. 0.5 bcm of gas annually. GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. has also developed gas pipelines in Lower Silesia, which will enable the off-take of greater amounts of gas from the western direction. The capacity at the Lasów point on the Polish-German border currently amounts to 1.5 bcm annually (the earlier capacity was 0.9 bcm a year).
Investments fulfilled by GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. in 2011 with their possibility of using virtual reverse flow services on the Yamal pipeline have created the technical possibilities to import over 3.3 bcm of gas annually to Poland from new sources (approx. 30% of the currently performed import).
Contact:
GAZ-SYSTEM S.A.
Małgorzata Polkowska, Spokesperson
Tel. +48 22 22 01 546
Mob. +48 691 911 217