From 10th to 11th of June 2024, the 9th Congress of the Polish Gas Industry took place in Łódź. The theme was “Decarbonisation in the gas industry”. There were six thematic sessions consisting of an introductory lecture and a panel discussion. The organisers set themselves the objective of developing a new strategy for the gas market in Poland under changing geopolitical conditions.

Organised by the Chamber of Commerce of the Gas Industry, the congress is ranked among the most prestigious industry events. This is due to the presence of respected gas industry experts, research institutes, universities and central government representatives. An expert participating in one of the panels was prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Szamałek, Director of the Polish Geological Institute-NRI.

Questions were formulated for each session to be answered by an expert debate. During the session "Current EU gas policy" the conversation focused on clarifying what should be the optimal role of gaseous fuels in the country's future energy mix and how to implement the implementation of new regulatory packages into the national legal system to balance the interests of suppliers and consumers?

The second session was devoted to the security of supply of gaseous fuels. Specialists were looking for answers to the question: In which directions should security of supply be developed and how should the market model be built to reduce state intervention and ensure the competitiveness of the economy?

As part of the session discussing the Hydrogen and Gas Package, it was discussed whether we can create new industries centred around hydrogen and what other technologies, competences and solutions should become our domain? The session on the zero-emission economy was dominated by a discussion on how to define the new role of the gas industry in the market, taking into account the increasing share of decarbonised gases, hydrogen, biofuels and from changes in the heating and transport sectors?

It also attempted to name and characterise the determinants of gas industry development. In practice, this involved answering questions: How do we reconcile the operating vision of an industry derived from the traditional economy with the requirements of the new digital world, and what are the main challenges in developing critical infrastructure for security and transformation?

Opportunities and barriers to the development of the gas industry were also considered. Among other things, they considered what development strategies should be adopted and what will be the future role of the gas network infrastructure?

Director of PGI-NRI prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Szamałek surrounded by panellists

The Director of PGI-NRI discussed projects carried out by the Polish Geological Survey to identify geological structures and their potential for carbon and hydrogen storage. In addition, he outlined the issues of the need for changes in the legal regulation of gas storage in the rock mass.

At the end of the Congress, the conclusions from the discussions were discussed and adopted in the form of a resolution.

Text: Artur Baranowski
Photo: Organisers(Marcin Pietrzak)