Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka raised the planned connection to the Central Europe Pipeline System (CEPS), during talks in Paris on Thursday.
Motyka spoke with officials including Lithuania’s Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency.
Motyka called the project historic in scale and importance for Poland’s defense infrastructure.
CEPS is a NATO-owned pipeline network, often described as a fuel lifeline for the alliance.
One of several NATO pipeline systems, it currently stretches some 5,300 kilometers across France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
It is used to transport fuel, including jet fuel, to NATO bases, with excess capacity offered to service some civilian airports.
Poland and Lithuania are not connected to the system, and Warsaw has been working toward joining it.
Motyka argued that the network would strengthen resilience in a crisis, warning that disruptions to supply chains, a blocked sea route, or problems at an oil terminal could complicate rapid fuel deliveries critical for military readiness.
He said countries in the region are showing strong interest in expanding the system and linking more states to the infrastructure.
In separate talks with European Union Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, Motyka discussed Poland’s capacity market, a mechanism that supports power plants by paying them for being available to generate electricity, as well as for the electricity they sell.
Poland plans to negotiate with Brussels this year to extend the mechanism beyond 2028, Motyka said, arguing that it remains important as the country shifts away from high-emissions energy sources.
The Paris meetings also covered small modular reactors, known as SMRs, which the government sees as a potential tool for cutting emissions while supporting electricity generation and district heating.
Motyka said the European Commission has shown interest in the technology, which he suggested could improve prospects for financing decisions.
Poland also held energy talks in Paris with South Korea and Japan.
With South Korea’s deputy minister for climate, energy and environment, Lee Ho-hyeon, discussions included cooperation on Poland’s planned second nuclear power plant, deeper involvement of South Korean companies in the nuclear supply chain, and liquefied natural gas infrastructure.
Motyka said the schedule for building a floating LNG terminal in the Baltic port city of Gdańsk remains on track and that cooperation with South Korean shipyards is proceeding as planned.
Talks with Japan’s deputy economy, trade and industry minister, Takehiko Matsuo, focused on the use of Japanese components in projects in Poland, cooperation on hydrogen, and security of raw material supplies for both fuel and energy.
Additional bilateral meetings were held with officials from Spain and the United Kingdom, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Discussions with Spain’s minister for ecological transition, Sara Aagesen Muñoz, addressed further cooperation, while talks with Britain’s secretary of state for energy security, Ed Miliband, focused on the security of transmission systems, and lessons from a Polish-Baltic power grid synchronization project.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP