Poland's top utility PGE plans to invest 235 billion zlotys ($63.8 billion) by 2035, focusing on renewables, gas-fired power plants, and energy storage, it said on Thursday as it unveiled its new strategy.
Having been reliant on highly polluting lignite-fired power plants, PGE is transforming to low local- and zero-local-emission energy sources, while developing battery storage to provide back-up for intermittent renewable capacity.
"This is a Copernican revolution; everything we've been doing up until now is changing," CEO Dariusz Marzec told a press conference.
"The system imposes challenges on us that require new flexible technologies and the necessity to launch new business segments," he added.
Under the new strategy, PGE will invest 85 billion zlotys in renewable energy projects, including offshore and onshore wind farms, solar, and hydroelectric plants, to boost installed capacity to over nine gigawatts (GW).
It also intends to build up to 10 GW of flexible low-emission gas-fired power plants, ready to switch to zero-emission fuels, investing 37 billion zlotys.
The utility will invest 75 billion zlotys in distribution, 39 billion zlotys in acquisitions, and 14 billion zlotys in energy storage, aiming for 18 GWh of storage capacity representing about 60 per cent of the market.
The company will also allocate several hundred million zlotys for research and analyses in three potential locations —Belchatow, Turow, and possibly Konin — for the development of nuclear energy projects.
As a result of implementing the strategy, the utility expects its core profit to rise from 11 billion zlotys in 2024 to 17 billion zlotys in 2030 and 30 billion zlotys in 2035.
PGE said it aims to resume regular dividend payments after achieving recurring net profit, positive free cash flows over two years, and maintaining an investment-grade rating.
The company last paid a dividend in 2016 before suspending payouts to finance its investment plans.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki and Barbara Erling; Writing by Rafal W. Nowak; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Franklin Paul and Sharon Singleton)