ORLEN has signed an agreement with 13 other energy companies and organisations from Northern and Central Europe to create the Baltic Energy Initiative, a partnership aimed at co-operation on energy security and regional competitiveness.
The 14 signatories come from Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Lithuania, Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Norway.
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Alongside ORLEN, the other participants are Eesti Energia, Fortum, Enefit, DNV Energy Systems, KN Energies, Topsoe, Adven, Siemens Energy, Steady Energy, Latvenergo, P2X Solutions, Gasgrid Finland and Orsted.
The group has identified several areas of joint work. These include offshore wind, closer integration of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and bioLNG markets, the creation of a regional hydrogen market, carbon transport and storage, and the development of small modular reactors (SMRs).
The partners also intend to apply jointly for money from European Union programmes and other international sources.
ORLEN management board CEO and president Ireneusz Fąfara said: “The challenges facing the energy sector today are too great to be addressed by individual countries or companies acting alone.
“The Baltic Energy Initiative will allow us not only to take part in major energy transition projects, but also to influence their direction.
“By bringing together the expertise, infrastructure and investment capabilities of European companies, we can strengthen energy security, make better use of available funding, and enhance the competitiveness of the Baltic Sea region.”
Security of energy assets forms a further strand of the agreement. Members plan to exchange experience on critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity and emergency preparedness, as well as responses to physical and hybrid threats.
They will also review projects that could improve the resilience of energy infrastructure and look at how such work might be financed.
The initiative is intended to act as a forum for pooling technical knowledge and developing projects with an international scope.
It is also designed to give the region’s energy industry a stronger voice in talks with European institutions, by allowing participants to prepare shared positions on regulation, investment and support mechanisms for strategic projects.
For ORLEN, the arrangement offers a route to partnerships in areas where the group is building its own assets and capabilities, including offshore wind, hydrogen, LNG, carbon capture and storage, and nuclear power.
Co-operation could also support cross-border projects and joint recommendations on regulatory frameworks.
