Electricity generated from ORLEN Group’s gas fields has been transmitted to the grid

- Upstream and Power Generation are two central pillars of the strong multi-utility group that we are consistently building. They are also the cornerstones of our strategy, which assumes a 250% increase in daily hydrocarbon production by 2030 as well as covering 20% of PKN ORLEN’s demand with gas from our own fields. We have leveraged the capabilities developed within the ORLEN Group to launch extraction of natural gas from two new fields, in Bajerze and Tuchola. The gas produced in Bajerze is to be locally converted into electricity through Energa Operator and then directly transmitted into the grid - said Daniel Obajtek, President of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN.

The estimated gas-initially-in-place resources of the Bajerze and Tuchola fields represent about 1.5 billion cubic meters of nitrogen-rich natural gas, which can be used to generate 125,000 MWh of electricity per year. This volume is sufficient to meet the demand from residents of a city the size of Toruń.
Two gas engines and generator sets have been installed in each production facility to transmit the generated electricity by cable lines to Energa Operator’s distribution grid in Bajerze and ENEA Operator’s grid in Tuchola, and ultimately to end customers. The generator sets will supply not only electricity but also heat generated during the operation of the gas engines, to be used by the process plant and to meet in-house demand of both facilities.

Generation of electricity from natural gas extracted in the fields located in the Province of Toruń and Bydgoszcz was launched in record time – less than eight months from the handover of the construction site and fourteen months from execution of the contract with the general contractor.
PKN ORLEN invested in modular systems in Bajerze and Tuchola, which means that all their components, including buildings, can be dismantled once the local gas resources have been exhausted, and then moved in their entirety or in part to a new location.

The works carried out in the Province of Toruń and Bydgoszcz are part of ORLEN Upstream’s ongoing project in the EDGE area, which includes the development of the Bajerze and Tuchola fields based on electricity generation from nitrogen-high natural gas.

Positive results of analyses conducted for the Bajerze-1K, Bajerze-2 and Tuchola-3 and Tuchola-4K wells confirmed the presence of commercial gas reserves associated with carbonate levels of the Main Dolomite or Devonian strata.

At the end of 2020, construction and assembly contracts were signed for those areas. The scope of activities covered the development of natural gas wells, construction of the complete infrastructure necessary for the extraction and purification of nitrogen-rich natural gas, as well as supply and construction of generator sets.

The company is already analysing more geological data from the region and considering the option of future development of the Rosochatka field in the district of Tuchola.

Currently, PKN ORLEN’s upstream operations are concentrated in Poland and Canada. Average daily production in 2021 was at 16,700 boe, with reserves estimated at 171.5 million boe.

In 2021, the ORLEN Group produced a total of 11.4 TWh of electricity, of which approximately 60% came from zero- and low-carbon sources. According to its strategy, by 2030 the Group will spend PLN 47 billion on investments in modern energy sources, including development of generation capacities in offshore and onshore wind farms, solar photovoltaic farms, and CCGT units in Poland and in the Czech Republic (in Litvinov). The biogas programme is also consistently rolled out. ORLEN Południe, an ORLEN Group company, has so far acquired three biogas plants, currently being converted into state-of-the-art biomethane plants.
 

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