Good morning. Welcome to the press conference of PGE Polish Energy Group, during which we will sum up the financial and operational results for the first quarter of 2026. In today's conference, we will have Katarzyna Rozenfeld, Deputy COO, Przemysław Jastrzębski, CFO, and Piotr Sudoł, Financial Director. Good morning. Traditionally, I will moderate the conference. My name is Konrad Mróz. Traditionally, we will start with presentations, after which there will be a Q&A session. That's all from me right now. Over to Katarzyna Rozenfeld, the COO.
Good morning again. I am really happy to be here with you this morning, because for the first time, I can see you, and it is exceptional for me. I'm also glad and welcome all of you who are connected online. I understand we have a broadcast, and there is a group of listeners.
Ladies and gentlemen, traditionally, we will start with an overview of the financial overview of the first quarter, starting with showing you the results, the repeated EBITDA. We have developed it on a solid level. It's PLN 4.14 billion. There's a record high EBITDA also in the gas energy segment. Comparing the first quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026, we have noted an increase of 99% in the gas sector, and this repeated EBITDA is PLN 179 million. Similarly, there's a record high in the heating sector. The year-on-year growth is of 25%, and that's PLN 1.1 billion. Why do we have such record-high results? Ladies and gentlemen, we all know that we experienced an exceptionally cold winter. There was some intense frost, and that meant that the volume of the production and distribution of electricity, but also heating, was record high.
At the same time, as typically the case, it has some disadvantages. The frosty winter also translated to a slight decrease in investment outlay. This is 3% year-on-year. This amount of our outlay in the first quarter is PLN 1.83 billion. In the first quarter, the electricity production was 16.49 TWh, which is 3% more than in the same period of 2025. The distribution of electricity is 11.49 TWh. That's a 7% growth compared to the previous year. Sales of heating grew by 13% year-on-year. It accounted for 23.65 PJ. The next sector that I want to talk to you about and present a brief summary is renewables and warehousing, energy storage. Consequently, in line with our strategy, we are reinforcing the portfolio of renewable sources of energy. We implement the key assumptions of the strategy.
In quarter one, we purchased a wind farm in Dzwola, 35 MW power. This is located in Lubelski, in the Janowski District. This purchase of the farm was another step of implementing one of our key strategic goals, and it is thanks to this acquisition that we increased our power in the onshore technology to 832 MW. In quarter one, we continued our work in offshore wind energy. We've completed the campaign of drilling in Baltica 2 project. We had a successful completion by the consortium, Romgos, RBS, Janicki. I'm mentioning this because, consequently, we are implementing the local content policy and strategy. It is my pleasure to mention that this was completed by Polish subcontractors.
For Baltica 2, we have also finished the preparation of the bottom of the Baltic for the cables, 150 km of route for internal cabling, which will connect the offshore turbines with the onshore electrical stations. The overall work included geotechnical studies alongside the planned route of the cable lines and checking the area for potential explosives, as well as removing any higher stones from the planned route. We're focusing on the next section right now, 260 long for export cables. We are aware that you are very interested in our projects, offshore projects, let me mention that early in May, the Baltica 2 project went into its key implementation phase. The foundations started to be constructed. Right now, we have over 20 piles. There's going to be 111 in the end, and the completion of the foundation construction is planned for quarter four this year.
In parallel, we are also constructing an onshore electrical station and the whole connection infrastructure in the Chociwel municipality, which will make it possible to export power to the energy system. Another important element, you can see that in the slide already, we are implementing the renewables project, as part of this initiative, we completed a transaction of takeover from RWE of an offshore Baltica 2 station, 350 MW power. This wind farm, together with Baltica 9, is going to be called Baltica 9+. The development of renewables would not have been possible without investing in energy storage. This is a very important element of our strategy. At the end of quarter one, we launched procurement procedures for four investments with the overall capacity of 372 MWh, and that's Pelplin, Szczekociny, Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport, and Wojciechowo.
All of these four projects, as you can imagine, will be co-located with the existing wind farms. Of course, what I mentioned is that we are going to try and promote really the local content component, in the procurement procedures that we're organizing. Also, work is ongoing concerning the Żarnowiec energy storage facility, and in April, we started mounting the storage units. At this point, we've already installed 65 out of 204 storage units, and the process will be completed in late June, early July. I recently visited this location, indeed, the work is impressive. It was very interesting for me to see the storage units getting mounted and installed very quickly. In April, we also completed the procurement procedure for another storage facility of 400 MW and 800 MWh capacity. This will be in Gryfino.
The installation will be subcontracted to a Polish consortium. Another sector that I'm going to say a few words about is the gas and heating sector. Again, in this quarter, we are continuing some of the work and strategic ambitions concerning the development of the gas energy. The next element of the strategy, will be two units in Gryfino and Rybnik, 600 MW each. We selected the contractor for both investments early this year. In March, we drafted and signed a contract. The overall value of the contracts that also include the 12-year servicing period is PLN 6 billion . The leader of the consortium that is going to be responsible for the rollout of the project is Polimex Mostostal. We're not slowing down, and we're already analyzing options for more gas-fueled projects. We have recently launched some preliminary consultations for new units in Lublin.
The planned capacity would be 300 MW. It is our goal to get information concerning our maximum possible share of the national domestic component in this investment. We've also continued work in the Gryfino unit, 28 thermal megawatts. In February, we had a delivery and mounting of three boilers, and we will have the possibility to deliver fuel to this unit. We are modernizing the infrastructure, and the handover is planned in August 2026. The next elements on heating and decarbonization, I think you have a lot of points that we can list here in our strategy. This component's going really, really well, the heating and decarbonization. A few words about this point. In Szczecin, we have the Pomorzany Power Plant. We have selected the general contractor, the first stage of the construction of the new source of gas-powered heat, with the power of 24 MW.
It will be rolled out by the Polish company, Metrolog, and the handover deadline will be 2028. That's the timeframe. In Gdansk, we signed a contract for the new cogeneration source in the power plant of Gdansk, and that will include eight identical gas motors with the overall combined power of 63 MW. The contractor, again, for this project is a consortium of Polish companies. The leader of the consortium is Miko-Tech, and the commissioning is planned for 2028. Our next location is Kraków. We have continued some work with cogeneration boilers of overall power of 100 MW in the power plant in Kraków, and we signed a contract with JT S.A. for the pipeline to the new infrastructure. The Gdynia location, this is the Gdynia plant. More decarbonization work is ongoing. A gas pipeline has been completed, and three boilers have been commissioned. The overall capacity is 90 MW.
We have commissioned cogeneration aggregates as well. In parallel, we have concluded two biomass boilers with the power of 30 MW. When I talk about the investments that are ongoing as part of the decarbonization project, like I said before, or perhaps it's the third time that I've mentioned this, the local content is very important for us. We are indeed promoting subcontractors that are Polish, and we canvass the market to see the potential of doing this work by Polish companies. This is something that we do all the time. We come to distribution. That is obviously another key element in our chain, because carrying out such extensive works related to modification of the production generation mix requires appropriately prepared distribution network.
In the first quarter, as part of investments and distribution, we built or modernized 439 km of medium and low-voltage lines, including 104 km of medium voltage as part of a 30% cabling program. That's the name of this initiative that we are carrying out. As a result, we reached over 27% of share of cables in medium voltage. Additionally, we installed 179,000 remote readers, including 166 as part of remote readers and 12,800 as replacement outside this program. We also completed over 11,200 connection agreements for customers consuming medium and low voltage for the total capacity of 238,000 MWh. The last element, it is my first conference here, so colleagues have told me it would be probably a new thing to you as part of those quarterly presentation, namely, client as the focus of our attention.
As you know perfectly well, the world is changing dynamically. It's becoming increasingly difficult to win new customers. We have two strategic objectives that focus on clients. One of those streams is customer service quality, and the other is PGE as number one as a business partner. This is something on which we are focusing very much, to which we dedicate a lot of attention, and we try to make sure that this is something that underlies our activities. Ensuring high-quality customer service makes us introduce greater availability of remote channels and digital solutions. As part of those preparations, we are working on a new billing system and CRM. As a target solution, it will improve our settlements, invoicing, and it will also replace the existing billing systems. As you know, we have a few of them.
As a result, documents will flow more efficiently, and data will be sent again in a more transparent manner. Migrating the data from several billing systems to a single one, as you may easily imagine, is an extremely complex project, in particular, if you service almost 6 million clients as PGE does. That is why the implementation of the system is carried out in stages. In the first quarter, it covered 1.2 million clients in Zamość, Rzeszów, and Skarżysko-Kamienna. The next stage, that is something that goes beyond our results of the first quarter, but an important element. On the 18th of May, we started the next stage for 2.2 million clients from Warsaw, Białystok, and Lublin. Another initiative is the implementation of paperless attitude to work.
In many companies, this has been in place for quite a while now, and we are now promoting this intensely in our customer service points. All customer service offices are able to offer this service now.
Currently, over 70% of agreements are sent electronically. It is our ambition to reach 100%, and we will keep you updated on how good we are at implementing this. We carry out also other activities as part of this client-centric approach. Both corporate customers and individual customers should have the best possible impressions at all contact points with the customer, and that is why we are building the customer journey map to make sure that indeed the company provides the best possible service at each contact point. All those contact points are supported by dedicated teams whose targets include this customer-focused service. We hope that customers will be even more satisfied with our services. Without digitization, it would be impossible to talk about efficient customer service. We have a mobile customer service office, and in the first quarter, we recorded 224 downloads of the application among our clients.
In the third quarter, we will have a voice bot. This voice bot, you probably have experienced contacts with such voice bots. These are devices that can work 24 hours a day, and that is something that customers expect to be able to reach the customer service at any time of the day. Thank you. That's it from me.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Let's move on to market data and a closer look of financials. As for the developments in the market, in the first quarter 2026, we could see a strong growth of domestic consumption of energy. 5.3% was the annual scale of growth. This is probably no surprise that the booster of this growth was the weather, namely very low temperatures in January, but also to some extent in February. That caused a significant growth in the demand.
For gas prices, in January and February, gas prices were lower. There were low temperatures and low wind intensity, which together translated into lower exports of energy by 0.8 TWh. In March, for geopolitical reasons, the war in the Persian Gulf drove gas prices, and since then, we have recorded a clear exports growth. As you know, this is the situation that was driven by the war. As of today, it is frozen, but the uncertainty continues, so higher prices of gas and other fuels are still here. 1.5 TWh was the generation, and high demand due to low temperatures. For renewable energies, generation in the first quarter went down. Low wind intensity was the reason for that. In wind farms, the drop was by 0.5 TWh, while we saw a growth in photovoltaics by 0.4 TWh.
We saw a growth in generation from gas by 1 TWh . This is year-on-year. The first two months of the first quarter actually were responsible for this growth because in March, we experienced turbulences linked to the situation in Iran. In coal market, a growth by 1.5 TWh and generation on lignite dropped by 0.9 TWh. Regarding prices, in the spot market, they were about PLN 37 higher than in the first quarter 2025. It should be noted here that this is a high level as it seems to be the highest price since the second quarter 2023, so the growth was marked. In the first quarter, the daily price volatility was similar to what we saw last year. In March, again, we saw hours with negative prices. This month, we saw an increase in energy exports, so as a result, the situation was offset.
The number of negative hours was noticeably lower than in the comparable period last year. As for CO2 in the first quarter, we noticed a significant decrease in the emissions rights prices from EUR 90 to about EUR 70 at the end of March. A very important element here were the discussions or the debate within the European Union and in the market in general regarding changes in the ETS system. We do not know the details of those changes, but the very debate about any possible changes and a major reshuffle in this market, already that caused a noticeable decrease in the costs on this parameter for us. We still have the conflict in the Persian Gulf, which drove gas prices.
In Poland, the growth amounted to about 32%, which, compared to the European market, where the growth was at about 50%, is relatively good. As a result, this growth was not as dynamic as elsewhere in Europe.
Energy prices, monthly, in March, dropped by about 9% from February. The growth from the comparable period last year was about 7%. In our case, this positive price change on CO2 was the catalyst of positive changes for us. As regards operating results, our generation in the discussed quarter increased by 0.4 TWh. That is about 3% up. Mainly, that was in gas-fueled units and in power plants fueled by coal. We followed the market, and this increase resulted from greater demand driven by the weather. We had higher generation in gas by 0.8 TWh. An important noticeable effect here is EC Czechnica and EC Bydgoszcz, which were handed over for use in 2025.
In coal, we had the growth at 0.4 TWh as a result of greater demand, but lower generation on lignite, down by 0.8 TWh. This decrease was driven not so much by market conditions as a result of decreased capacity at Turów. We recorded greater sales of heat energy. It is no surprise we talked about very low temperatures. Here, the increase was by almost 0.2 PJ, so that was a 13% growth. Average temperature in the analyzed quarter was 2.2 degrees Celsius lower than multi-year average, which shows the scale of how extraordinary the situation was. In the distribution part, in PGE Dystrybucja, we recorded greater volumes of distributed energy, 0.6 TWh, up by 6%. Again, the weather and greater demand played a major role here, mainly in G tariff, that is households, as well as SMEs and large enterprises in B tariff.
In railway energy, the volume of distributed energy also went up in a similar scale by 12%, even slightly over 12%, and in volume, 0.14 TWh. This was due to higher demand in the traction segment, where the demand for transportation, in passenger transport, was greater.
Very good. Now for retail, we have a decrease year on year, 0.5 TWh, 6%, and a decrease in sales in the tariff groups A, B, and C. Now I'm going to talk about how all of this impacted EBITDA. This was mentioned by our COO. We have noted a repeated EBITDA on the level of over PLN 4.1 billion. This is a decrease by 5% year on year.
Regarding our generation result, it's better by PLN 0.4 billion, PLN 400 million. That's higher revenue from the sales of electricity due to increased demand. This is the outcome that's visible in the PLN 300 million, 0.03 TWh higher volume and higher prices, PLN 10 per megawatt hour. The group also achieved higher revenue from the heating sales, higher volume of sales, 2.8 PJ increase, higher use of fuels for coal and gas. In total, lower prices of these fuels resulted in a drop of fuel cost by PLN 100 million. We noted higher cost of CO2, PLN 300 million. Here we have the outcome of higher prices, mostly that have contributed to this. An increased margin, we noted that in heating and gas energy sectors as well as the coal energy sector. The sales of electricity to final consumers noted a drop by PLN 0.4 billion.
This is mostly the outcome of lower margins on tariff progress vis-à-vis 2025. There's a high baseline because in 2025, we had the one-and-a-half-year tariff that covered the costs or surpassed the cost even. In 2026, we're facing a situation where the regulator did not really recognize the full costs translated into tariffs, we're facing a different situation. In distribution, we have a slight increase, an increased margin by about PLN 20 million, a positive outcome of higher volume. It was largely limited by the negative impact of the decreased UAG. Now, margin in the railway sector, there is a similar growth here as we can see in distribution. For that segment, higher margin on distribution services was limited by a lower outcome in energy. Now, regarding the reserves, in total, on the consolidated level, the outcome is PLN -117 million.
Activated costs, mostly in coal energy sector, and the remaining items, that's also a slight negative impact. We had a very detailed presentation of what happened in quarter one regarding the amounts. In terms of cash, the expenditure is PLN 1.8 billion. This was lower by PLN 62 million vis-à-vis the previous year and the comparable period, that's a 3% drop. The biggest increase in expenditure is in the renewable sector. The Baltica 2, of course, accounts for most of that because it's gaining speed and momentum. It's right now in the construction phase, both the onshore and offshore. In the next quarters, we can expect that this will be the driving force for all the expenditure in renewables. For heating, we noted an increased expenditure of PLN 42 million, EC Gdynia and Kraków power plants and in the railway sector, also by PLN 16 million.
This is mostly distribution and traction that's responsible for that. A significant drop of expenditures, PLN 270 million in the gas energy sector. Like you can see before, these are just very big individual projects that where the timetable of expenditure overlaps. Quarter to quarter, this can be misleading. Some of the repayment timetables are not regular. There are bigger or smaller amounts to be repaid, so it is not really a negative sign. It is just due to the repayment schedules. Now, for distribution, we have a decrease of expenditure by about PLN 130 million and a smaller number of connections.
Distribution is something that feels the negative impact most of the frosty weather and the weather conditions that have helped us on the one hand, creating a high demand for energy, but continuing investment in field was definitely difficult, and this was a factor that slowed it down. In the next months and quarters, this should be made up. Traditionally, in coal energy, we are seeing a small decrease, but the baseline is also low, PLN 15 million, and that's a continuation of our policy. We want to keep a discipline of these expenses, and we want to focus mainly on keeping the equity. There are no developments there. The net indebtedness at the end of March, it was just over PLN 7 billion. That's PLN 7.1 billion. It was higher by PLN 2.9 billion than the indebtedness at the end of 2025.
The main influence was the generate EBITDA of PLN 4.1 billion to decrease the indebtedness. The settlements of CO2 was changed and that had an impact of PLN 1.9 billion, increasing our indebtedness. Investment outlines, PLN 1.8 billion, increased our debt level. A deposit of PLN 1.5 billion. This has not really featured before. We generally considered this was the decision that we made to put some of the investment surplus for a slightly longer period, to put that in a deposit, and that's a new component that we have vis-a-vis the practices we used in the previous meetings, previous periods. Tax, income tax, PLN 800 million, that increased our indebtedness. We had to pay the fee on the fund of equalizing prices, the WRC fund, that's PLN 600 million. The last item is PLN 400 million, and that's the M&A, so the takeover of the Lada Wind Farm.
That's an onshore wind farm. The completion of the transaction, conclusion of the transaction of the RWE offshore wind farm acquisition. In total, we have a quarter-on-quarter decrease by PLN 500 million of our indebtedness year-on-year. In terms of our economic indebtedness, which includes the CO2 settlement, the level of that towards the end of the period we're talking about is PLN 15.3 billion, and the economic debt to 12-month EBITDA ratio is 1.2. The next slide, traditionally, during every meeting, we make a reference to our perspective and the outlook for the rest of the year. Now, vis-a-vis what I said during our previous meeting, we decided to change one category, one item, and that is gas energy.
After the results of the first quarter, we are changing the perspective from stable to growing, due to the fact that we are predicting a slightly higher margin on sales. The remaining segments, we are sustaining our position from the previous presentation, not many changes there. I don't think it needs to be discussed. Perhaps there will be some questions later on. Now the net results, the last item that we would like to discuss. There is no such significant change there as we saw towards the year end. We haven't recognized an important impact of non-cash events or one-off events, such as a reserve or write-offs. The EBITDA was encumbered with reserves from contracts in the coal energy sector. The overall total was PLN 244 million in that categories in the turnover. The total reserve was about PLN 100 million.
The reported EBITDA dropped by about PLN 50 million due to the fact that one-off events had to be booked, mainly voluntary leave, voluntary redundancies, and the energy adjustment for the previous periods. In the quarter one, there was something that had a significant impact on the financial outcomes. That's the derivative instruments. This will happen every quarter. This is the International Accounting Standard requirement. A derivative to account for inflation, which is embedded in CFD. That relates to our offshore Baltica 2 wind farm. In this quarter, we have PLN 249 million. This is a non-cash item, and it does not impact the cash flow at all. For tax settlements, we did not note any significant one-off events, and the net profit was about PLN 2 billion over this period. That's all from me. Thank you very much.
Thank you, sir.
Now, traditionally, this is a Q&A session that I am opening right now. You will remember from our previous months that we have some questions collected already that I will read out, then I will give the floor to the audience. Question number one that occurs quite often, has PGE reviewed its strategy already? Will there be some adjustments? For example, how can the gas or nuclear potential change?
Thank you for this question. I am aware, ladies and gentlemen, that when the annual results were announced, the CEO undertook that we were going to make such a review. The current crew, of course, sustains this willingness to do so. You will remember that our strategy that was announced last year is a 10-year strategy. 10 years in today's world is a very long period of time. Even if investments are made that account for four or five years, anything that happens in the world and how the regulations are changing and what we are surprised with all the time, has fundamental impact on what we can do and how flexible we need to be to be able to respond to all these factors. Yes, indeed, we are working on the review of our strategy. It will be presented most likely in quarter three of this year.
We also have this ambition to communicate to you every year an update so that you are not surprised with the fact that there might be some changes in our strategy. We're hoping that really in quarter three, we can start this good tradition of updating the strategy. What elements of this strategy could be reviewed or updated? We know that, this is broadly commented in the public space, changes in ETS. This has been shown in our financial statements, that represents a cost of almost PLN 2 billion every year for the group. Any changes in ETS take place will have a very significant impact on both our results and our strategy. That is why we decided to show you this review and update in the third quarter, because we believe that the talks and decisions are likely to take place in the summer.
In July, maybe the information will not be fully reliable, so that's why we opted for the third quarter. We also know that there won't be any additional auctions for 2030 this year. That is why we are recalculating assumptions in our strategy in the gas segment, for example, to make sure that the assumptions are valid as of now and they correspond to the development of the market. Last year, the situation of photovoltaics changed essentially, and we are all reminded of what balancing market is and how much the cost of the balancing market have changed. Also, the valuations changed downward. The profiles of valuation developments in photovoltaics are consistent in this downward trend, so we need to have another look at it. We do not expect any changes in the heat energy. We are the leader in this segment.
We are often praised for doing that so well and often asked what we are doing to be so good at it. We talked about the segment of renewable energy sources, offshore. Here, everything is on track. I think that will be it for this upcoming update that will be presented in the third quarter.
Thank you very much. One more question to you. This is something that already came up in your comments, namely the status of offshore projects.
Okay. I'm just wondering what I should add to what has been said. Together with Przemysław, we have already said that as for Baltica 2, everything is on plan, on schedule, and we expect the launch to be on time. Regarding Baltica 3, that is also part of the entire pool of offshore project.
Together with a partner, Ørsted, we are working to be able to finalize as soon as possible the reconfiguration of the project and resume the procedure for the purchase of key components. I also mentioned Baltica 9. Now we are at the stage where within the next weeks or months, weeks, I'm looking at the CEO. Yeah, within weeks, we should complete the process of selecting the partner for the project. Let me also remind you that in the context of CFD mechanism, both Baltica 9 and the other project have to start its generation by 2032. We also have a portfolio of other offshore wind projects, Baltica 1 and 7. These are realistic options for further growth that allow the PGE Group to keep strategic flexibility in the context of subsequent stages of market development in this regard. That would be it as regards Baltica.
Thank you.
Now for a change, financials. To Mr. Jastrzębski, what is the reason of the high results and the distribution results, and at the same time you show the growth by PLN 22 million here?
Okay. The growth of EBITDA in distribution compared to the first quarter last year, this comes from the valuation upward. In the first quarter 2026, the results of this segment grew over PLN 170 million, it was a non-cash settlement within the entire group. When we show that on the consolidated level or in management reporting, we try to make adjustments for any intragroup settlements. Additionally, the weather. In distribution, there was a significant growth in sales volumes, 0.6 TWh up, which is also quite a significant element, we should not forget the impact of WACC.
All those things taken together, internal settlements might have caused this confusion and this interest about where this difference comes from.
One more short question. Why did you have low operating cash flow in the first quarter? What were the drivers of it?
Yes, indeed, we had accumulation of several factors that contributed to this level being relatively low. Above all, we had CO2 expenditures that was over PLN 7 billion. We had a corporate income tax payment of almost PLN 800 million , and the already mentioned upward valuation. All that together makes this level seem significantly lower. In subsequent quarters, there won't be any similar accumulation of events, we will return on track and next CO2 payment will come about December. In short, answering your question, accumulation of certain events, nothing dangerous.
In a moment, I will ask the audience for questions, but the last question online to Mr. Jastrzębski. Consensus assumes 11.5 EBITDA. Taking into account first quarter's results, aren't those assumptions too conservative?
Generally, I believe that a conservative approach is the right one. In the current market where there are so many variables like geopolitics, regulations, all those things beyond our control, we always try to be as conservative as we can, or relatively conservative to surprise the market in a good way if we manage. The worst thing for listed companies would be to overpromise and then fail to deliver. I think the major factor is that we are operating in a very unstable situation, and it is not only about domestic market, but global geopolitics, which affects every single business in Poland, in Europe, and also us. That is the answer. Thank you.
Now, over to the audience here in the room. Please introduce yourself, ask questions to the microphone so that people who are following us online can hear the question.
Rzeczpospolita. I have three questions. In the presentation for investors, on page 35, generation and sale of energy, you say in the context of business customers that the sales of energy sales was 3.4 TWh to business customers, the similar period last year, that was over 5 TWh. My question is, how come you had this decrease? Are you losing clients or maybe there are some other reasons? Again, the same presentation. You present on page 36, energy prices, contracts for the following year as part of annual contracts, it was PLN 444, now it is PLN 429.
Does it mean that, or is it some indicator that the prices for next year are likely to go down even more than they have decreased by now? The last question, in the management report, you regularly, which is a very good thing, refer to legislation, also draft legislation. Here, surprisingly, you refer to this Nuclear Act of parliament or draft legislation mentioning impact on PGE. If you are referring to this Act on the Preparation and Implementation of Investments in Nuclear Power Facilities and Associated Investments, does it mean that PGE will be involved in the nuclear project in some way?
Thank you. I will try to answer the first question, and I will say right away that the conclusion that the prices are likely to drop next year is a bold one. I will ask Press Office to track the contracted prices, and we will give you a detailed answer.
Mr. Jastrzębski will address the third question. As for the first one, this decrease regarded large customers, business customers from A and B tariff groups. In A tariff, indeed, the decrease was almost 26% year-on-year. I need to notice here that A group are clients with consumption maybe 100 and even 1,000 GWh. Losing just a single customer like that has a major impact on the decrease in volume. That is the major reason here. I am responsible for trade, so the question was well addressed. We make sure that contracting is profitable. That is our key assumption. We do not want to maintain volumes in an artificial way while those volumes are not profitable, but instead, we want to make sure that the offers that we make to our clients generate margins. Those margins are not too high.
The decrease in volume is mainly the effect that we talk about clients, I don't know exactly how many clients from A group, their volumes are very significant. Even the loss of a single customer who might have had 900 GWh or 1,000 GWh consumption, that caused the results. For the second question, you will get a written reply, and Przemysław will address the third one.
As for nuclear energy, nothing has changed in our approach. We have a company that analyzes individual locations. I do not have the slide here with me, and I don't remember the details, but the market and the developments in nuclear energy is something that we monitor. Every decision at governmental or parliamentary level is relevant to us because that is an entire system.
For example, Bełchatów is one of the locations that is being considered as the location of the second large nuclear power plant. What's going to happen there will very much impact our group. This will influence our plans, our attitude to planning of the future functioning of currently operating power plant in long-term. You should not be surprised that we consider that, monitor, and track the developments. Nothing has changed, though, as for our plans as of now. As of now, we are not considering involvement or building a large-scale nuclear power plant. We do analyze locations. We are vitally interested in that because that is relevant, and we want to take part in this fair transformation. We are mainly focusing on Bełchatów in this context. Thank you.
Any other questions?
Julia Cydejko, Polityka Insight.
I have three questions, and I will try to squeeze them in fast. My question is whether you can give us more details regarding Baltica 3, because in your management report for the third quarter, you have some more figures. You say, for example, that in 2025, you had a reconfiguration done. In April this year, you applied for modification of environment decision and permission to create artificial isles . I would like to find out what that was exactly about. Also offshore. Yesterday, the government adopted solutions that facilitate these kind of facilities, and you are the leader in installed capacity in such wind farms. My question is, what other conditions should materialize for you to make those decisions about modernization of onshore windmills? I'd like to hear your comment on the costs.
Not much has been said about this in your report. Other companies are willing to talk about this. I was wondering how you are coping with the PICASSO system at the balancing market at this point. The next changes are expected that could potentially be a challenge from the trading perspective, but also technical perspective. I wanted to ask you, how do you do that the renewables sector and its result doesn't really see the impact of the challenges that other companies are talking about? Hence my curiosity. I'd like to hear a comment. Thank you.
Baltica 3. Regarding the details, it's very difficult for me to make reference because these are environmental questions. Regarding the plans and the project itself, we are upkeeping the position that we communicated earlier. We would like to start contracting this year and start launching the project.
This is something that is up to date. Like I said, I can't tell you about the details of the artificial islands and environment decisions. If this is of interest to you, we can prepare a publication, a release. We will come back to you from the press office. From repowering. Of course, the legislation is very important, but for us, what is a key factor when we enter the process is the economics of the specific wind farms. If this makes sense economically, and the process and the lifespan of the actual windmills, wind turbines, and the wind farms is drawing to an end, and automatically they will be on the radar of potential repowering, then of course, we will take that into consideration.
Of course, for us, the key is the financial model and whether this makes sense economically, because it's easier to talk about repowering, but as a matter of fact, in many cases, in every case, this is as if we build a new wind farm, right? Because we have a completely different technology. The old farms operate on a slightly different technology. They have smaller turbines, older turbines. So if you want to professionally do the repowering exercise, then as a matter of fact, there's a multitude of actions that needs to be taken. So that's another project, actually. In terms of locations, it will be here rather than the old farm. Right? So the economics really of every single project is key. Of course, we do take that into consideration, and we're not excluding such a possibility.
Now, regarding the profile, I'll give the floor to my colleague.
I think there were two more questions. Let me just add to what has been said by Mr. Jastrzębski. In fact, the Connection Act can release connections for new projects. This is a very important thing, and we will be watching that very closely because it is part of our strategy to include the onshore element as an important one. I will ask you more about what you wanted to know about PICASSO. For the balancing market, yesterday, we had a meeting with PSE. I think all the stakeholders in the market agree that the balancing market has slightly lost its function, and there are moments and places and entities where it starts to be speculative market, and definitely that's not its role.
I know for a fact that PSE works very hard on developing solutions that could in fact prevent the speculative components on the balancing market. We are in dialogue with them. All of the societies or associations whose members could be active participants of the market check such solutions that could change the situation. I do not know what your question concerning PICASSO was about. If these are technical aspects, we will probably have to come back to you with a reply. There's a comment that's off the mic, so we cannot hear it. Like I said just a minute ago, this knowledge is there in PSE, and the market stakeholders are aware of that.
I do not know openly, I can tell you to what extent this element, concerning the basic function of the balancing market, to what extent this is taken on board, but we can check that and get back to you.
Thank you very much. Yes.
Jędrzej Stachura, Energy Drink Podcast. I have two questions. Upkeeping the conventional powers in the PGE mix, that's number one. How long do you think the power market should be operational for coal and for gas in the optimum version? That's my first question. The second question, this topic has been mentioned before. I wanted to ask you how you evaluate the profitability of the offshore projects in the current conditions, and what are the conclusions on the PGE Baltica progress in the recent weeks? Can I have a quick comment?
Did I hear you well? You said Energy Drink.
That is a great name for a podcast. My compliments. I am largely impressed with the creativity of people who do such things. Getting to the point, I don't think any one of us here is capable of giving you the exact point in time when the power market will be needed, because again, this depends on a number of factors. We can start a discussion on it. For example, when are we going to have a nuclear power plant? We have an officially accepted timetable. We would all wish for it to happen, but we can see that the macroeconomic factors, the geopolitical situations, can impact the scenario. The situation we're in is, I'm sure you're aware, that the coal sector has billions of an operational loophole.
Of course, internally, we are working on it, and we're doing everything we can to make sure we can change the situation and to decrease the loophole. For all of us and for all of you, it is obvious that we cannot do it ourselves without the help of the power market post-2028. On one hand, we have the multibillion operational loophole, and we are aware that many of those units are not profitable, but on the other hand, we're also aware, and PSE also shows us and systematically we're experiencing this, we know that we need, until, of course, a nuclear power plant is built, we need to have a specified number of units that are operable, that we can influence.
I'm not sure if you're following this, but for example, during the May holiday, when we had wind, and we had sun, and we had a great supply from the renewables, that was all good. Imagine a situation when the weather is changeable, and over five minutes, we don't have any wind or any sunshine, and we need to very quickly supply specific volumes that we can operate on. On one hand, we know that profitability of these units is close to nothing, many of them. On the other hand, we see that operable units are needed. What I would say is that, the support market is needed as long as we do not have sufficient volumes of all reliable sources, stable, operable, supply units that we can manage. There was another question.
For the profitability of offshore, not sure if I understood your question well. You were asking about how we foresee the profitability of offshore projects, right? As a rule, these conditions have not changed so much. I could even risk saying that they have been stabilized or improved because of the loosening of the supply chains. Geopolitical situation and a certain limitation of the projects globally, especially in the U.S. Well, when we were doing the procurement for Baltica 2, this was very tight. The production capacity of the global suppliers of all the components were really tied up. Now it's slightly more relaxed. I think the market is more stable now, balanced. There is no advantage of the supplier versus the buyer, you could say.
Potentially in the next two projects, number three and 9+, this situation will be sustained, and we will have a lot better negotiating position. We do not see any threats here. We currently have three projects that, as a matter of fact, fulfill our strategic goals regarding the installed capacity. That will be 3.8 GW combined in the three projects. Strategically, we have that sorted out, and we are covered
We're happy with that. Now regarding subsequent projects, it all depends on whether the auctions will take place and how profitable it is in long term. The key factor here is a stable revenue. Profitability is one of the components, but the other is to what extent the revenue is stable. Without CFD contracts, this will no longer have its rationale, and you cannot go ahead with offshore projects. I don't think nowhere in the world would you have a project that's only be subject to market volatility. If there are contracts on the right level, and if you can calculate, and if the economics are okay, then I don't see any counter indications. We're focusing on these three projects right now to date, so completing Baltica 2 and commissioning the next two projects. You are asking about Baltica 2.
You wanted me to say something more about it? No. Okay. That's it then. Cool. There is construction on the bottom. Baltica 2. For Baltica 2, we are very happy with the budget discipline and with the whole project. There are no risks at this point. Everything's under control.
Aleksandra Hołownia, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. I would like to ask about the program of voluntary leaving of the company. What do you plan for the upcoming year in Bełchatów? The second question about energy storage facilities. What business case you have for the following years for energy storage facilities? How you plan to make money on that?
I will start with the program of voluntary leaving. We have already implemented this program and practiced it in Dolna Odra. Statistically, I even have some crib notes here with me, so I can give you more specific information.
In Dolna Odra, this program was used by the end of March 2026, by 58 employees. Arrangement with trade unions with compensation equal to 27 times remuneration, because that was the result of negotiations. 145 employees benefited from this mechanism. I will not reveal any secret if I say that this employee arrangement negotiated in Dolna Odra, which means the compensation of 27 times remuneration became a benchmark, which the employees of our group, in the case of potential redundancies, will expect. The second question was about energy storage facilities. Przemysław, will you take this?
As for energy storage facilities, as of now, our strategy has not changed, although we may not exclude the possibility of a revision in the third quarter. Let's not determine it right now.
Currently, we have two storage facilities being built. One is in advanced stage of construction, the other is just beginning. I'm talking about Żarnowiec and Gryfino. We also open to potential acquisitions, M&A transactions of storage facilities. The key to profitability or business rationale of acquiring potential facilities is that they must be governed by the older rules of power market, because these were more beneficial. If we move forward to more recent times, the economic calculation is more challenging here, and we are analyzing multiple potential targets for M&A transactions. We're also very selective about those parameters. That is what I can say on this.
Again, the comment or additional question is off- mike. You also asked about Bełchatów. Okay. As of now, that is still an internal matter in GEK, and we don't want to comment on this yet.
Rafał Zasuń, WysokieNapiecie.pl.
I would like to continue on the question raised by Maciek. This 18% drop in volume was not a quarterly phenomenon. It is something that you experienced also previously. In the first quarter, you had also a decrease in margins, a very significant one. Will that continue along similar lines in the future, or are you planning to strike back to stop this decrease? The second question is about cost of Turów and Bełchatów. The current strategy is silent on how these costs are to be covered in the future. We know that they will not be covered from the power market. Will the new strategy somehow address this issue?
Answering the question how and whether we are going to counterattack would mean that we would disclose too much of our activities. Yes, obviously, we are monitoring this very closely.
We are now at a stage where almost every single offer is analyzed. We mainly focus on price-generating, price-driving elements. We look at how the offers are prepared, what components they comprise, in order to better understand why we are losing the volume. You might also compare the first quarter of financial results across the sector, among various companies. Against this backdrop, we fare perfectly well. I do not want to brush off this element of decreasing volumes. That is at the top of my priority list or among top issues in my priority list. Of course, I do not want to discuss any details. We have already taken action in order to understand thoroughly the logic underlying this decrease in volumes. The second question. Yes, fixed cost overheads are problematic.
The largest problem is linked to the years where the power market comes to an end. I just said this will not cover all overheads. As part within the group, we regularly monitor the efficiency, and we are working on improving overall efficiency in coal. We have to be honest about it. On our own, we won't be able even to break even in longer term. If we talk about a power gap and a nuclear power plant joining the system soon, some sort of a support program from the government must be put in place. That's a must-have. We are now in talks, so it is not that we are waiting passively without doing anything. There are diverse concepts, coal reserve, many other ideas that are just being analyzed, that are just emerging.
The system might be supplemented with some sort of support elements, and we will strike the right balance. We continue to analyze efficiency, and the second element, which is necessary, in particular in longer term, is some additional support system to keep those units operational, because realistically, they are needed. The gap will not disappear by word of magic, and it has to be replaced with something, nuclear energy. Nuclear energy requires a longer time, and by then, energy has to be generated somewhere and secured somehow. Our partners do have understanding of that, but we cannot discuss any details yet. You agree that if such a system is put in place for coal power plants, lignite power plants might have problems. Well, they do not have to take advantage of auctions.
The system is being discussed with a variety of solutions still being considered as potential ones. It's very difficult to discuss such hypothetical solutions. Both the government and we have the awareness of the specific nature of individual sectors of energy generation. Each has its own specific conditions. By the time nuclear power plant is generated on large scale in Poland, someone has to supply energy in large quantities. As of now, to a large extent, it is us who do that. If there is an exceptionally cold weather. Coal-fueled energy magically becomes necessary. If there is a [Non-English content] that we had last year, also coal energy, supplied energy. We must reach a broad consensus, and the final solutions will be discussed in terms of to what extent that they cover fixed costs or not.
I don't want to comment on any hypothetical scenarios because they are just hypothetical and virtual. Thank you.
Thank you.
Magda Graniszewska, Puls Biznesu. I have two questions. The first is about discussion about trade. In connection with this margin rather than volume approach, do you have any target, and if so, can you disclose it? The second question is about finding an investor for Baltica 9. Should that be a sector or financial investor? If in the sector, when will PGE have its own know-how and will become interested solely in money and not in partners' expertise? That's a third project, so probably you have learned something. What is this know-how transfer like?
I will start with the second question. As of now, our strategic objective is to find a sector investor.
We are still learning this sector, but a very important assumption that we take into consideration and we communicate to our potential partners is that the role of PGE in the project, both in Baltica 3 and Baltica 9 +, will be significantly higher than it was in Baltica 2. We have acquired a certain knowledge, a certain experience, so we have certain expertise, so our role will be greater. For sure, we will want to make sure the local content is significantly higher than it is in Baltica 2. When will we be ready? Maybe phase III, but it's hard to say. It's just too distant as a projection. We are slowly moving in this direction, professionalizing our expertise. For sure, in subsequent projects, our role will be greater. Although in Baltica 2, also our role was not small either.
We were responsible for this inland part where we have the greatest expertise. As for your first question, obviously, as for the target, this is what was planned as part of our financial plan for this year. We believe that this financial target that was formulated for 2026 will be achieved. As I have said, we are going to dedicate a lot of effort and resources to customer service and all elements related to that based on experience, both our own and that of other operators in this segment. Customer service is of key importance. We need to make customers more loyal in several key areas of our operations.
Coming back to the volumes in trade, the situation is such that if we had a situation where there is any segment that generates fantastic margins in a certain margin, we could say we only want to have this tariff Y, whatever. If we knew that this tariff generates very high margins, that could potentially be our strategy to focus on this Y tariff and clients who are serviced within this tariff. That is not the case. We need to find a formula where we keep the margin, which will be at the same time driving volumes, because achieving determined financial targets is impossible without taking into account various target groups. It remains an open question how we formulate our pricing offers or what are the lowest levels of margins we are ready to accept in order not to lose the clients. That's not easy.
Another element of this picture is that in the case of a big client, the amount of work that needs to be put in is similar as in the case of a customer of a completely different size. This is a rather complex picture.
As you said, we see a certain trend which is not positive, so we put in a lot of efforts and resources to change it. Like I said, with specific projects, and there is a couple of them, I don't want to disclose specific information because the competition is wide awake.
Thank you. I can see that there is another question in the room. Yes,
Polityka Insight. I wanted to ask you about the upward evaluation for the fund. There was an appeal launched. I understand further steps are inevitable. I wanted to ask, what's your outlook and expectations for that?
Yes, indeed. This was paid. The upward valuation was paid. It's an administrative issue, it's a procedural issue, and we had to pay it. Yes, we filed a case with the court. We don't want to do any forecast. We have communicated our position before.
We sustain it. It is our view that the valuation amount was not calculated correctly. This is a legal question, how this will be resolved. At this point, the transfer was made, and the case is in court, pending. I don't want to forecast anything. It'll not conclude quickly, as I'm sure you will feel.
Thank you. I can see no further questions in the room. I have one more that has been sent to us, financial. The economic indebtedness is adjusted for the loans that you took from the resilience program, and if not, what's the nominal value of the loans?
Yes, this has an impact, but frankly, I cannot calculate the amounts right now. If this is an important issue, we could perhaps release this information later.
Please, whoever asked this question, can you contact us with the press office or the investment relations office? Unless there are any further questions in the room, I would like to thank you all very much and take this opportunity to tell you that we have the Platinum Megawatts , journalistic awards. Congratulations in advance to everyone who wins it. Do you know the results? Fingers crossed for you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.
Thank you very much.