News

Wawrzynowicz and Partners Law Firm, in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce for the Gas Industry, organised a Webinar which took place on the 12th December, 2022. The event was hosted by W&W lawyers – Kamil Iwicki and Marcel Krzanowski.

The contents of the meeting included a discussion on the reasons for the introduction of the regulatory amendment, an introduction to the new categories of prosumers (collective and virtual), and an explanation of the differences between the net-metering system in force until April of this year and the new net-billing system. In addition, the issue of the impact of the “freezing” of electricity prices on the rates at which prosumers will transfer energy to the grid in 2023 was raised.

The Conference of the Parties to the Sectoral Agreement for the Development of the Hydrogen Economy is behind us. The event was initiated by Minister Ireneusz Zyska – Government Plenipotentiary for RES and acted as a summary of the previous activities related to the Agreement. 

W&W’s managing partner, Adam Wawrzynowicz attended as a representative of the Chamber of Commerce for the Gas Industry and he took part in a discussion panel titled, “Law – an important ingredient for building the hydrogen market”. The panellists exchanged views – often very different points of view – regarding new regulatory proposals for the hydrogen market and discussed how deeply regulations should interfere with the emerging market and whether the proposed solutions meet the expectations of hydrogen market stakeholders. The very large attendance at the Conference proves the importance of the subject matter and bodes well for the further legislative work of the Ministry in support of the production of so-called ‘green’ hydrogen.

The November issue of the magazine “Nowa Energia” published an article by Adam Wawrzynowicz, Kamil Iwicki and Marcel Krzanowski titled, “New legal solutions for biomethane and hydrogen”. The lawyers from W&W focused on the assumptions of legislative changes (including EU energy policy), the methods of their implementation, as well as the potential consequences they may have for the gas industry.

See the article here (Polish language) (pdf)

The authors point out that the European Commission’s REPowerEU directly states that natural gas will no longer be promoted as a bridging fuel in the energy transition process. Therefore, programmes financed by the EU budget will primarily support the development of the biomethane, and the green and blue hydrogen sectors. Member States, including Poland, will have to set up an adequate hydrogen infrastructure, using both the existing natural gas system and the system dedicated exclusively to hydrogen. The text emphasizes the particular importance of building so-called multi-energy systems, i.e. close integration of the power and gas systems or – in the future – hydrogen systems.

Adam Wawrzynowicz took part in two discussion panels during the VIII Congress of the Polish Gas Industry, “The gas market – a new reality”. The panel themes were “System solutions for gas supply” and “The business environment for the gas industry”. Adam, as a panelist, raised  issues primarily related to the impact of the so-called EU taxomy on the financing of gas projects and the regulatory environment for the development of the hydrogen, biogas and biomethane sector in Poland and the European Union.

Kamil Iwicki conducted an online training event organized by MMC Polska and entitled,  “Legal regulations and settlements regarding prosumers” . The training examined the prosumer market after the amendment of the RES Act and the Energy Law of 29 October 2021. The participants were explained how to understand the provisions regulating the functioning of new entities on the market (virtual and collective prosumer) and the rules of prosumer settlements in the net-billing system. In addition, the possibilities of qualifying for the “old” system (net-metering), the transition from one system to another and something new for the prosumer market – the rules for the use of energy storage – were presented.

Adam Wawrzynowicz, Managing Partner of W&W, led Panel no. VIII entitled, “The prospects of gas as a bridging fuel in the context of the current methane strategy and EU taxonomy” during the 25th GAZTERM 2022 Conference. The topic of the panelists’ talks was the issue of the status of natural gas as a bridge fuel in the face of tightening climate policy. The talks concerned new technologies in the energy sector, financing the decarbonisation of the gas industry, barriers faced by energy companies on the way to greening their activities and the so-called EU taxonomy.

The panelists included Artur Cieślik (PGNiG SA), Krzysztof Hnatio (Tauron Polska Energia S.A.), Jakub Pokrzywniak (WKB Law Firm) and Bartłomiej Mazurkiewicz (PGNiG Ventures sp. z. o.o.).

Adam Wawrzynowicz, managing partner of W&W, has been appointed President of the Court of Arbitration at the Chamber of Commerce of the Gas Industry for a three-year term of office by a resolution of the Chamber’s Management Board.

The Court of Arbitration at the Chamber of Commerce of the Gas Industry was established as a result of the implementation of the decision of the General Meeting of Members of the Chamber of Commerce of the Gas Industry on 7 April 2009. It operates on the basis of the Statute and the Rules of Operation of the Court of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of the Gas Industry. It brings together entrepreneurs and experts from various sectors, including energy, economic, civil, gas, and public procurement law.

An article by Marcel Krzanowski and Adam Wawrzynowicz was published in the March issue of “Przegląd Gazowniczy” entitled, “The European Commission has presented two important packages of legal changes regarding the gas industry”.

At the end of last year, the European Commission published long-awaited projects to decarbonise the gas sector. The presented reform provides answers to the questions posed so far about the future shape of the regulatory environment for the natural gas and hydrogen market.

The authors analyze the proposed changes presented in the article and identify areas requiring further work.

Adam Wawrzynowicz, managing partner of W&W, participated in a panel discussion during the symposium “Polish Green Deal – program for the gas industry”, which took place on January 14-16, 2022 in Zakopane. This year’s Symposium, periodically organized by the Chamber of Commerce for the Gas Industry, was devoted to the green transformation of the gas industry. Adam Wawrzynowicz introduced the participants to the assumptions of the proposed regulations for hydrogen and other renewable fuels, in particular the assumptions of the new gas package published by the European Commission in mid-December 2021.