Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Infrastructure

  • Paris Charles de Gaulle is the busiest airport in Europe

    Paris Charles de Gaulle is the busiest airport in Europe

    In the busiest airports in Europe rankings, London Heathrow lost for the first time the first place, being overtaken by Paris Charles de Gaulle, BBC and Reuters reported.

    In the first nine months of 2020, about 19 million passengers passed through Heathrow Airport, compared to 19.3 million registered at the airport in the French capital.

    Amsterdam (Schiphol) and Frankfurt airports are close, in third and fourth places.

    Heathrow Airport, which has already laid off 500 employees, reported £ 1.5 billion ($ 1.95 billion) losses in the first nine months of 2020.

    The company also worsened its estimates of passenger numbers in 2021 to 22.6 million – less than a quarter of the 2019 level.

  • Polish PGNiG Group to buy Danish natural gas from Ørsted

    Polish PGNiG Group to buy Danish natural gas from Ørsted

    Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) and Ørsted A/S have signed a multi-year contract for the sale and purchase of natural gas.

    The agreement covers a total volume of approx. 70 TWh (6.4 bcm) to be supplied between January 1st 2023 and October 1st 2028.

    Denmark is linked to Germany via the interconnector at Ellund and will be linked to Norway and Poland via the Baltic Pipe which is currently under construction.

    Under this agreement, Ørsted will resell some of the natural gas that it receives from the Danish part of the North Sea to PGNiG, e.g., from the Tyra field, which is Denmark’s largest gas reservoir.

    Currently, the Tyra platform is under redevelopment to extend its operational life by at least 25 years. For this reason, production from Tyra was halted in 2019 and is expected to resume in 2022.

  • Sweden bans Huawei and ZTE brand equipment from future 5G networks

    Sweden bans Huawei and ZTE brand equipment from future 5G networks

    The Swedish telecommunications regulator banned the use of equipment produced by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in future 5G networks on Tuesday.

    The decision comes ahead of the tender for the allocation of frequencies that will take place next month, Reuters reports.

    The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) said the ban was a consequence of the new law passed earlier this year and assessments by the Swedish armed forces and intelligence services to ”ensure that the use of frequencies does not endanger Sweden’s security.”

    PTS added that companies that will take part at the allocation tender of 5G frequencies must remove the current Huawei and ZTE equipment from the central parts of their networks by January 1, 2025.

    The regulator approved the participation of four operators in the second round of the tender procedure for the allocation of 2.3 and 3.5 Gigahertz frequencies, crucial for the launch of future 5G networks: Hi3G Access, Net4Mobility, Telia Sverige and Teracom.

  • Polish government to restructure the utilities and mining sector

    Polish government to restructure the utilities and mining sector

    Polish government seeks to restructure the utilities and mining sector with a view to balancing environmental and social aspects, Moody’s latest report shows.

    The recent agreement between mining unions, the state and the largest miner, PolskaGrupaGornicza (PGG), heralds an end to domestic coal mining by 2049 as a precedent of state support is set.

    Solar power is growing strongly from a small base thanks to subsidies for households. Offshore wind is expected to start generating electricity from 2025 onwards.

    75% of Polish electricity was generated by coal and lignite in 2019

    Polish utility sector has a high reliance on coal and lignite, with around 75% of electricity generated from these fuels in 2019.

    Carbon intensity of Poland’s GDP has fallen 40% over the past decade, but is still higher than other EU countries.

    The National Energy and Climate Plan to 2030, submitted to the EU Commission, foresees a gradual reduction of coal and lignite fuels.

    The latest draft of the Polish Energy Plan 2040 foresees the share of coal in electricity generation at 37%-56% in 2030 and 11%-28% in 2040. Solar installations and offshore wind will be the main replacements.

    In the first eight months of 2020, electricity consumption in Poland declined by 4.4% from a year earlier, whereas generation fell by 7.2%.

    The decrease in power generation was disproportionately borne by coal and lignite plants, where output fell by 12.9% and 11.5%, respectively.

    Poland’s interconnection capacities with its neighbours have increased since 2015, resulting in cheaper wind and hydropower from Germany, Sweden (directly and via Lithuania) as well as nuclear power from the Czech Republic competing in the Polish market.

    More capacity will be added through the Baltic Synchronisation project, which will synchronise the Baltic countries’ grids with Western Europe, with Poland serving as an important gateway.

    No offshore wind before 2025 at the earliest

    Initial Polish offshore wind capacity is planned to come online from 2025.

    The government has therefore sped up its efforts to pass a legislative framework for offshore wind installations, which we expect to come into force by early 2021.

    Large utilities have started to team up with experienced European developers, such as EquinorNew Energy(Baa1 negative), Iberdrola(Baa1 stable) and Orsted (Baa1 stable).

  • MET Group acquires a 42 MW wind park in Bulgaria

    MET Group acquires a 42 MW wind park in Bulgaria

    Swiss-based energy company MET Group has acquired a 100% stake in a 42-megawatt wind park in Bulgaria, after signing a share purchase agreement with Italian Enel Green Power.

    The wind park is located close to Kavarna, in North-eastern Bulgaria. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place before the end of December 2020.

    The wind park, the fifth largest in Bulgaria, consists of two sites in the municipality of Shabla and Kamen Bryag, with 14 units of Vestas-V90 wind turbines – 3 MW capacity each.

    The wind farm, operating since 2010, supplies power equivalent to the consumption of around 30.000 households.

  • Bulgarian car market has fallen by 24% for the first nine months of 2020

    Bulgarian car market has fallen by 24% for the first nine months of 2020

    Total sales of vehicles (cars and light commercial) in Bulgaria for January – September 2020 reached 157 thousand compared to 206 thousand a year earlier, Capital reports.

    Two-thirds of them are over 10 years old.

    The new cars market reported a decrease of almost 38%: from nearly 33.000 last year to 20.500 cars and light commercial vehicles in 2020. For used vehicles, the decline is smaller – 21%, to 136 thousand.

    Renault leads the top in new cars sales, with 2393 vehicles sold, followed by Dacia, Skoda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Peugeot, KIA, BMW and Mercedes.

    The most used cars sold in Bulgaria are made by Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW.

  • EIB invests €120 million in south-eastern Hungary

    EIB invests €120 million in south-eastern Hungary

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) and MVM Hungarian Electricity Ltd. (MVM) have signed a €120 million loan to modernise and expand the electricity supply network in south-eastern Hungary.

    MVM has more than 785.000 customers in Bacs-Kiskun, Bekes, Csongrad-Csanad and Pest counties.

    The project programme covered by the financing consists of the reinforcement of the electric supply network, refurbishment of high, medium and low-voltage substations, overhead lines and underground cables, and the installation of 600 distribution transformers and 210.000 advanced meters.

    Special measures to protect local birds species, developed in cooperation with the Hungarian Ornithological Society, will also be implemented under the investment including the replacement of above-ground power lines with underground alternatives, and the installation of special equipment for bird protection.

  • The new metro line in Bucharest serves 150.000 residents and 20.000 employees

    The new metro line in Bucharest serves 150.000 residents and 20.000 employees

    The Râul Doamnei – Eroilor section of the M5 metro line, inaugurated in September, will shorten the travelling time for 150.000 Bucharest inhabitants who live near the 10 newly built stations, also offering a quick travel alternative for almost 20.000 employees working in companies whose office buildings’ headquarters are located in the Eroilor – Progresului – Politechnica areas.

    The Râul Doamnei, Constantin Brâncuși, Valea Ialomiței and Romancierilor metro stations, located at the western end of the new metro line, each have a catchment area of between 18.000 and 22.000 people who can access the metro within a 10-minute walk, according to data from the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consulting company.

    At the opposite end, the residential density decreases to 8.000 – 10.000 inhabitants near the Orizont, Academia Militară and Eroilor stations, as these areas are office development hubs.

    Buildings with a total leasable area of 191.000 square meters are located in the extended vecinity of these metro stations, including here the projects from the Progresului (AFI Tech Park and Green Gate) and Politehnica (Campus 6, The Light) areas where between 18.000 and 20,000 employees work under normal circumstances.

    Moreover, additional spaces of around 200.000 square meters are curently planned or under construction in those areas.

    The largest projects under construction are One Cotroceni Park (75.000 sq. m that will be delivered in two phases near the Academia Militară metro station) and Campus 6.2 and 6.3 (41.000 sq. m which can be accessed both via the Politehnica metro station, as well as via the new Orizont metro station, located at around 1 kilometer away).

    The Râul Doamnei – Eroilor section has a total length of 7.2 km and is the first part of the M5 metro line that should connect the Drumul Taberei and the Pantelimon neighborhoods.

  • 10.8 kilometers of a main Czech railway line will be refurbished

    10.8 kilometers of a main Czech railway line will be refurbished

    Two years from now, trips from Czechia to Poland by train will become faster, safer and greener after a refurbished section from Dětmarovice to the Czech-Polish border, via Petrovice u Karviné.

    The project is part of an investment programme aiming at removing bottlenecks along the main railway corridors in the Czech Republic, co-financed by a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) grant and EIB loan.

    It comprises the modernisation of eight railway sections located on the core network corridors of the country.

    In total, 10.8 kilometres of the railway line will be refurbished for an investment cost of nearly CZK 3 billion.

    The reconstruction project officially started on 25 September 2020

    Along with an electrified double-track section on the transit railway corridor from Dětmarovice to the Czech-Polish border via Petrovice u Karviné, the single-track connection between the Závada and Koukolná branches will also be renovated, making it possible to travel by train from Poland to Karviná without ‘zig zag’.

    Thanks to the improvement of railway substructure, track structure and bridges, trains will no longer have to slow down from 100 to 65 kph in the Petrovice u Karviné station.

    State-of-the art safety equipment will be installed along the entire section, including the stations and railway crossings.

    The project will also include the reconstruction of the overhead lines and installation of new lines where needed. The power supply station in Petrovice u Karviné will also undergo refurbishment, thus improving its energy efficiency.

  • Czechia to build a canal that will link the Danube to the North Sea

    Czechia to build a canal that will link the Danube to the North Sea

    The Czech government has approved the first phase of a canal that will connect the Danube and the North Sea, Czech Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlícek announced on Monday, as Radio Prague International reported.

    The total cost would be about 15 billion CZK and construction work could begin in 2030.

    Unlike the original plan, which aimed to connect the Danube, Oder and Elbe rivers, a study by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade relies solely on connecting the Danube with the Oder.

    The first phase of the project involves improving the infrastructure between the Czech city of Ostrava and the border with Poland, where the future canal would connect the Polish section to Kozle, at the intersection of the Oder and Klodnica rivers.

    Subsequently, this first section of the canal would be connected to the Danube. The original plan to connect the canal to the Elbe River appears to have been abandoned by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade because it was considered less economically viable.

    Karel Havlícek stressed that the results of the studies show that the project is both realistic and beneficial for the surrounding region.

    For example, it will provide easier access for local industry to European and global markets as well as opportunities for the tourism sector.

  • In Romania there are 1.2 million parking spaces and 7 million vehicles

    In Romania there are 1.2 million parking spaces and 7 million vehicles

    At the end of 2019, 1.2 million public parking spaces were available in Romania for the 7 million registered vehicles.

    The annual fee for residential parking varies between 30 and 100 lei in small towns, respectively between 70 and 150 lei in large cities.

    For subscriptions, rental prices vary between 15 lei / month and 1.000 lei / month.

    The hourly rate for paid public parking varies between 1 and 5 lei, except for Bucharest and Cluj, where the maximum limit reaches 10 lei.

    The total number of on-street parking spaces is 403.148, of which: 128.735 are paid, 252.742 are unpaid, 13.728 are for people with disabilities and only 124 are for electric cars.

    The total number of off-street parking spaces is 155.052, and the number of smart parking spaces is 9.742.

  • CEZ obtained a permit for further operation of Temelín Nuclear Power Plant

    CEZ obtained a permit for further operation of Temelín Nuclear Power Plant

    CEZ received a permit from the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB) for further operation of Unit 1 of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant.

    The operation permit is subject to regular ten-year cycles, during which Czech nuclear power plants must demonstrate that they meet all the conditions related to their safe operation.

    The documentation handed over alone contained 163.000 pages of professional documents.

    A team of experts has been working on the renewal of the permit to operate the first unit since the end of 2018. Among other things, they had to supply the state office with twenty so-called proofs.

    In practice, it has always been an extensive package of documentation, assessments, plans, and analyses.