Environmental projects and technologies

The prioritised actions included in the QHSE Policy with respect to the use of environmentally friendly technologies, in 2020 the PGNiG Group carried out a number of projects to advance that objective, including:

• An innovative nodal seismic data acquisition system. Given their small size and weight, nodal sensors allow surveys to be conducted in an environmentally-friendly fashion. They help to simplify the logistics of exploration activities, making them less onerous to the environment and local communities (Geofizyka Toruń).
• Expansion of laboratory facilities at the Physico-Chemical Measurement Laboratory to include new work stations that will support the development of a national hydrogen economy in terms of the quality of new gas fuels in order to provide commercial, innovative, world-unique alternative fuel quality testing services, enhancing the PGNiG Group’s trading portfolio (CLPB – PGNiG).
• Construction of photovoltaic installations – following a stocktaking exercise carried out at the PGNiG Group, the Group estimated that its own properties meeting the criteria for construction of photovoltaic projects with a total capacity of approximately 20 MW. This is a multi-stage process aimed at improving energy efficiency and supplying clean solar energy to meet the Group’s own needs and for sale to the grid. Initiatives to optimise the energy usage profiles and neutralise the environmental impact of office buildings are also carried out based on the PGNiG Group Energy Efficiency Improvement Programme.
  • A pilot photovoltaic system was installed on the roof of one of the PGNiG Head Office buildings. The PGNiG Head Office premises at ul. Kasprzaka 25 in Warsaw are located within a conservation protection zone for historical urban layout parameters, with many buildings entered in the register of historical monuments. Therefore, the C7 office building, which is not a historical monument, has been selected for the construction of the photovoltaic system; the roof with an area of approximately 1,500 square metres meets the project criteria. The photovoltaic system with a capacity of almost 50 kWp is comprised of 124 solar panels. The system will supply power to one of the office buildings located on the PGNiG premises at ul. Kasprzaka 25 in Warsaw. The unit will produce more than 42 MWh of green energy annually, largely covering the building’s electricity demand.
  • The installation of a photovoltaic system at ul. Naftowa 3 in Zielona Góra will reduce the consumption of electricity purchased from outside the Group by 10% in the first phase, and thus will help reduce CO₂ emissions into the environment. Ultimately, the consumption of electricity will be reduced by some 20%.
• Continued construction of the KG1 gas-fired boiler house at the Żerań CHP plant, which has replaced two coal-fired boilers, while reducing air pollution (Termika).
• Construction of a diffuser system for discharging brine into the Puck Bay in order to ensure appropriate mixing and dilution of the brine in Bay water, in accordance with model assumptions and theoretical calculations (GSP).
• Developing a project for underground large-scale salt-cavern storage of hydrogen, including the construction of a demonstration unit consisting of an experimental salt cavern interoperating with an owned RES source and electrolysis unit at the Mogilno UGSF (GSP).

• Installation of hybrid (relying on a mix of electrical and acoustic fields) fish repelling systems at cooling water inlets from the Vistula River and the Żerań Canal at the Żerań CHP plant, to prevent fish entering the inlet pumping system (Termika).
• Reduction of occupied area by clustering holes at the Kosakowo UGSF by drilling one vertical and four directional wells from a single site (GSP).
• Use of treated wastewater from the wastewater treatment facility in Dębogórze (as process water) for cavern leaching, thus protecting underground water resources. Wastewater is taken from the discharge canal, through which the Dębogórze facility discharges it to the Puck Bay (GSP).
• Use of nitrogen instead of screening oil to insulate cavern ceilings during leaching. Leaching of storage caverns with nitrogen eliminates harmful impacts on the water environment of the Puck Bay, which could occur if oil were used (GSP).
• Discharge of rainwater, after pretreatment, into the ground, which helps maintain the natural water system despite partial development of the land (GSP).
• Performance of sozological tests on sites where conventional gas facilities were located in order to determine the condition of the soil and aquatic environment. Remediation of contaminated sites (PSG).
• Installation of cameras for on-line watching of peregrine falcon nests at the Żerań CHP plant and Kawęczyn heat plant, in partnership with the Sokół Association for Wild Animals (cameras were installed for the 2021 breeding season) (Termika).
• Since the 2020 breeding season, there have been swift nests on the main building of the Żerań CHP plant; the nests were built on the initiative of the Białołęka District Participatory Budget. (Termika)
• Running apiaries for bees (2 million bees in an urban environment). On the premises of PGNiG, at ul. Kasprzaka 25 in Warsaw, given the availability of land and close proximity of green areas, an educational apiary has been set up and gradually expanded, currently consisting of 25 hives. The project combines environmental protection with educational elements. In 2020, the PGNiG Group also set up another 16-hive apiary in Warsaw, on the premises of the Siekierki CHP Plant. (Termika) The PGNiG Foundation is responsible for day-to-day care of the apiaries.
• PGNiG Termika EP’s projects related to energy outsourcing, energy efficiency improvement and electricity trading. In an effort to expand its product range, the company carried out targeted energy audits at the hotels owned by GEOVITA, which led to undertaking more than a dozen projects to upgrade energy management at the hotels and obtaining energy efficiency certificates of approximately 120 [toe]. Design work has also begun to upgrade the boiler room equipment at the hotels in Dźwirzyno, Mrzeżyno, and Dąbki. The upgrade projects being carried out at the hotels owned by Geovita will be extended in 2021 to include the construction of dedicated photovoltaic systems in 13 locations, with a total capacity of approximately 4-5 [MWp], which in 2022 should make the Geovita hotels energy self-sufficient thanks to the use of RES technologies (photovoltaics, heat pumps, etc.) and cogeneration.
• The countrywide Programme for Energy Efficiency Improvement in Residential Buildings, dedicated to housing cooperatives, provides for the implementation of investment projects and provision of services in the ESCO model (execution of energy efficiency projects in cooperation with Energy Service Companies), ensuring the financing of projects with the PGNiG Group’s own funds. The Programme is tailored to the needs of housing cooperatives, both those using district heating and those using local boiler houses and off-grid heating systems. It focuses on implementing investment projects designed to eliminate low-stack emissions, related to the construction of energy-efficient heating systems, building local energy markets as part of cluster initiatives, and those focusing on improving the quality of electricity supply for industrial plants, hotels, and office buildings (PGNiG Termika EP).
• Replacing fluorescent light holders with LED lamp holders at the Mogilno UGSF. In addition, methane emissions at the Mogilno UGSF were reduced by replacing the methane used for ventilation of the VentStack gas discharge system with nitrogen, which is environmentally friendly and neutral to the atmosphere, and four biomethane storage chambers were designed. Noise emissions from the Kosakowo UGSF above-ground equipment were also reduced, and a targeted analysis of low-frequency noise emitters was performed (GSP).
• CO₂ emission reduction projects, as a result of which solar collectors were installed on the roofs of the office building and workshop in Zielona Góra to generate electricity for heating domestic hot water, electricity consumption was cut and CO₂ emissions to the environment were reduced by 20% (Exalo).