ZE PAK SA Capital Group is a significant electricity producer on the Polish market and an important element of the country's energy system. In terms of installed capacity and electricity production, ZE PAK SA Group is the largest private (uncontrolled by the State Treasury) energy group in Poland, consisting of vertically integrated entities operating in the area of lignite mining, electricity production from conventional and renewable sources, and energy trading.
The Group focuses its activities on several areas. For many years, it operated mainly on the basis of a business profile focusing on the production of lignite mined in nearby open-pit mines, supplemented by wholesale electricity trading and the sale of electricity certificates of origin, activities aimed at ensuring an appropriate number of CO2 emission allowances as well as production and sale of heat. In a situation of pressure on high-emission energy producers and increasing costs of CO2 emissions, the Group has decided to focus its future activities in the area of low-emission and emission-neutral energy sources as well as the production and use of green hydrogen. There are also companies within the Group that deal with, among others, construction and assembly works, maintenance works, service, production and trade activities aimed at meeting the needs and comprehensive service for the industry.
The companies of the biggest importance for the Group due to their current scale of activity are: ZE PAK SA, dealing with production of electricity and PAK KWB Konin SA, dealing with the lignite mining. The Group's conventional generation assets include 4 power units with a total capacity of 1,118 MW, powered by lignite and located at Pątnów power plant, in central Poland, in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The Group's mining assets are concentrated in PAK KWB Konin SA.
For several years, the Group has gradually been limiting its activities related to lignite mining and energy generation from lignite until it eventually completely discontinues this type of activity. Today, ZE PAK SA Group is a leader when it comes to the green transformation in the energy industry. Previously a producer of conventional energy from high-emission sources, in 2020 the Group initiated the most ambitious strategy of transition from coal to green energy in Poland - it announced, among others, complete phase-out of coal within the next few years. Currently, the base scenario assumes that coal operations will be carried out until the end of 2025. The Company may decide to extend it depending on external conditions (needs of the energy system, market situation, regulatory environment).
One of the prospective assets is a 100% subsidiary of ZE PAK, i.e. PAK CCGT sp. z o. o., which is responsible for the preparation and implementation of the project for the construction of a gas unit on the premises of the former Adamów lignite power plant. The project of 600 MW gas-steam unit in the fourth quarter of 2023 entered the implementation phase. The currently expected date of putting the investment into operation is expected at the end of the first quarter of 2027.
Adamów lignite Power Plant Construction site of the future CCGT Adamów plant
It is also planned to use the assets at Pątnów Power Plant for the potential construction of a nuclear power plant. This project is developed in cooperation with external partners. The special purpose entity established to implement this project is PGE PAK Energetyka Jądrowa SA, in which the Company holds 50% of the shares.
ZE PAK Group cooperates with Cyfrowy Polsat Group, jointly developing the structure of subsidiaries of PAK Polska Czysta Energia sp. z o.o. (PAK - PCE), whose activities focus on the production of energy from renewable sources and the production and use of green hydrogen. ZE PAK is a minority shareholder holding 49.5% of shares in PAK - PCE.
Taking into account the changing legal and environmental conditions, the increasing prices of CO2 emission allowances, and the tightening of emission standards for other substances, the Company is already significantly reducing its carbon footprint. In recent years, a significant decrease in CO2 compared to previous years can be observed.
Also in absolute terms, i.e. calculated per unit of electricity production, the Group's emissivity has decreased over recent years.
The vast majority of the sales revenue generated by the Group comes from the sale of electricity. The Group also generates revenues related to the Capacity Market mechanism as a result of winning capacity market auctions (primary market) and taking over capacity obligations from other entities (secondary market). This is supplemented by revenues from the sale of heat and contracts for construction and renovation services. An additional source of sales revenue, depending on the level of generation costs and energy prices on the market and production volume, is revenue from the termination of long-term contracts for the sale of electricity.
In 2023, the power plants of the ZE PAK SA Group generated a total of 1.53 TWh of net electricity, which was sold under bilateral contracts and framework electricity sales agreements, as well as on energy exchanges and on the balancing market. Including energy from trading, the Group's sales in 2023 amounted to 2.65 TWh.
In 2023, the Company's operating activities and financial results were determined by several factors with a very significant impact. The most important of them are the regulatory environment determining the possibilities of obtaining margins, finalization of the sale of a majority share in the structure of PAK PCE and the upcoming date of termination of activities related to coal mining and energy production from coal. Each of these factors was so important for the financial results that it significantly influenced their comparability compared to previous periods.
In 2023, the sale revenues amounted to PLN 3,865 million and EBITDA was recorded at the level of PLN 728 million (total revenues and EBITDA from continuing and discontinued operations). As at December 31, 2023, the book value of ZE PAK SA Group’s assets amounted totally to PLN 3,590 million.
More detailed information is included in the management board’s report on operations ZE PAK SA Capital Group in 2023.