REGIONAL ENERGY ISSUES PAGE

The following information was taken from data and studies produced and compiled by the Energy Information Administration regarding North Central Europe. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/visegrad.html

The Visegrad countries are neither large producers nor consumers of energy. Coal is the single abundant fossil fuel in the region, with only Poland and the Czech Republic having significant quantities.

In 2002, coal accounted for 45.6% of the Visegrad Group’s total primary energy consumption. The Visegrad countries import most of their crude oil and natural gas requirements from Russia. This dependence on Russian natural gas and oil imports has also been a point of contention in the Visegrad Group, particularly Poland, which experienced a natural gas supply cut-off in February 2004.

As the Visegrad Group privatize energy markets in line with EU directives, some government officials have argued against giving up control in state energy companies as privatization could compromise national energy security, as well as increase Russian-based companies control through acquisition.

In the past decade, the Visegrad countries have diversified their energy supplies to reduce dependence on Russia by connecting national oil and natural gas networks to Western European. The strategic importance of the region, however, lies largely in the crude oil and natural gas pipelines which traverse the Visegrad countries on their way to Western Europe.

Regional Integration

The Visegrad region shares the CENTREL electricity system, which links the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In 1995, the CENTREL system was connected with Western Europe's grid. Poland also has electricity connections with Ukraine and Belarus. As part of the EU's Trans-European Energy Network project, both north-south and east-west connections are being expanded, including a new link to Lithuania. The four countries of the region are also members of European electricity transmission system Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE). UCTE coordinates the interests of transmission system operators in 20 European countries.

 

 

Copyright © 2010