Orlen is to build a network of hydrogen hubs powered by renewable energy sources and build facilities to convert municipal waste into zero- and low-emission hydrogen.

The following news items appeared in PT Daily, Poland Today’s daily business newsletter, on Tuesday 15 June – free to register here

New Orlen programme to create over 100 hydrogen processing stations in CE

State-owned oil refiner and petrol retailer PKN Orlen plans to build hydrogen hubs in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia. The programme, called Hydrogen Eagle, foresees the construction of installations to process municipal waste into hydrogen as well as launching more than 100 hydrogen fueling stations for private, public and cargo vehicles. Orlen said the project would enable the group to achieve a hydrogen production capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year by 2030.

The municipal waste-to-hydrogen conversion plants are planned in Orlen’s headquarter city of Płock in central Poland, in Ostrołęka in eastern Poland, and Czechia. Of the fuelling stations, 54 will be in Poland, 26 in Slovakia and 22 in Czechia.

“The Orlen Group’s … projects implemented in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia can make it Central Europe’s leader in hydrogen fuel,” said Daniel Obajtek, President of the PKN Orlen Management Board. “We know that this is extremely important both from the business and  environmental perspective. Entering the market of sustainable hydrogen production will give us competitive advantages in the retail, refining and power generation business in the decades to come. It will also allow us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, marking an important step towards achieving carbon neutrality in 2050.”

PGNiG to harness the power of AI

Natural gas provider Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG) has launched the Smart Field project, an initiative which uses advanced digital technology to support oil and gas exploration and production operations. According to PGNiG, the company expects that the project will increase domestic recoverable natural gas reserves by more than seven billion cubic metres thanks to the use of IT technology for analysis of various drilling and development options.

“With artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud solutions, we will be able to speed up analytical processes and increase the amount and detail of data processed. This will help us improve the operational and financial efficiency of PGNiG’s exploration and production activities,” said Paweł Majewski, President of the PGNiG Management Board.

Smart Field is a comprehensive approach enabling precise analysis along the entire production process, from the reservoir to the delivery point. In addition to increasing the hydrocarbon resource base, its application will reduce production costs by optimising investment in production infrastructure. PGNiG is a listed company operating in exploration for and production of natural gas and crude oil. Through its key companies, PGNiG is also active in importing, storage, sale and distribution of gas and liquid fuels, as well as heat and electricity generation. The company holds equity interests in some 30 subsidiaries, including providers of specialist geophysical, drilling and well services. 

Industrial production jumps again

Industrial production in Poland jumped 45.2% y-y in April, the EU statistical office Eurostat reported. Compared to March, production in Poland fell by 0.7%. In the entire EU, industrial production in April rose 0.5% m-m and by 38.7% in annual terms. Statistics Poland previously reported that sold production of industrial enterprises increased by 44.5% year-on-year in April.

More than ¼ of Polish companies have Ukrainian employees

As many as 28% of companies in Poland have employees from Ukraine, the ‘Polish Labour Market Barometer’ report by employment and HR consultancy Personnel Service has shown, according to an article in Business Insider. Among companies with more than 250 employees, 45% have Ukrainian workers, while in medium-sized companies, every third does. Almost a quarter of companies in Poland plan to recruit Ukrainians in the next 12 months. The greatest demand for employees from Ukraine is seen in companies from the industrial, retail, and service sectors, the research showed.

Warsaw bourse has high expectations for new international platform

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) expects that 20-30 large U.S. and European companies will be listed on the Global Connect market platform in the beginning, the WSE press office told the Polish Press Agency (PAP). The WSE wants to launch a new market segment called Global Connect by the end of 2021 – on which foreign companies will be listed – in response to interest by investors in foreign assets.