The EBRD is providing a €250 million loan to the leading Polish oil refinery and retail group PKN ORLEN that will be used to finance substantial environmental and energy efficiency improvements at one of its heat and power plants at the Plock refinery in central Poland.
The EBRD investment will bring about a significant reduction in sulphur dioxide and nitrogen compounds every year, speeding up PKN ORLEN’s compliance with EU environmental standards coming into effect in January 2016.
Poland remains one of the most energy intensive economies in the EBRD’s region and this credit is part of the EBRD's overall strategy, aimed at helping the country meet environmental standards and reduce harmful emissions.
“With this investment we seek to achieve quite significant energy efficiency and environmental improvements at a company which is at the very centre of Poland’s energy industry. It is a very important step,” said Kevin Bortz, Director of Natural Resources, EBRD.
“We believe that meeting better environmental standards provides direct benefits also to the company itself. We very much appreciate the EBRD’s involvement in financing investments and provided environmental solutions. These investments will result in reducing emissions while increasing power capacity and allowing ORLEN to better balance its energy needs,” said Jacek Krawiec, President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board.
The EBRD-funded upgrades of environmental performance and energy savings will include the replacement of an obsolete and inefficient boiler while other boilers will be modernised by fitting specialised equipment to reduce emissions. Such investments will help PKN ORLEN move up on the ladder of the most carbon efficient installations in the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme.
The energy sector remains a key priority for the EBRD in the region. The Bank has invested over €9 billion in power, energy and natural resources. Particularly, the Bank’s investments are targeted at contributing to improved environmental performance and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Since the beginning of its operations in 1991, the EBRD has invested over €5 billion in Poland in more than 280 projects in various sectors of the country’s economy with a total value of over €18 billion.