Business model evolution
PGE Capital Group is the biggest vertically-integrated producer and supplier of electricity and biggest heat producer in Poland. We are changing and so is the Group’s structure and our impact on the environment.
~39 %
of electricity was produced by PGE Group’s generating units in 2023
~20 %
of district heat was produced by PGE Group’s generating units
~320 thousand km
Length of distribution lines through which PGE Group supplies electricity to customers in an area covering approx. 40% of Poland’s territory
In 2023 PGE Group expanded its operations to include the railway energy services segment and became a major distributor and seller of energy to the rail sector.
With a mix of own lignite sources, generation assets and distribution network, PGE Group provides a safe and reliable supply of electricity to 5.7 million customers – households, businesses as well as institutions. In practice, this means that it serves almost one in three electricity consumers in Poland.
Key assets of the PGE Capital Group
Corporate Center
Supply (wholesale trading)
PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A., Warsaw
Registered Office
PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A., Lublin
Supply (retail sales)
PGE Obrót S.A., Rzeszów
Gas-Fired Generation
PGE Gryfino 2050 sp. z o.o., Rybnik 2050 sp. z o.o.
Renewables
PGE Energia Odnawialna S.A.
PGE Baltica sp. z o.o., Warsaw
Circular Economy
PGE Ekoserwis S.A., Wrocław
District Heating
PGE Energia Ciepła S.A., Warsaw
Conventional Generation
PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna S.A., Bełchatów
Disribution
PGE Dystrybucja S.A., Lublin
Railway Energy Services
PGE Energetyka Kolejowa S.A., Warsaw
From generation to supply of energy to customers
We operate across the entire energy value chain: from the extraction of lignite from its own mines, to the generation of electricity and heat, to their distribution and sale.
Conventional plants use lignite from their own mines and hard coal, gas and from external suppliers to generate energy. Renewable sources are also used to generate electricity: wind energy, hydroelectricity and solar energy. Energy is then supplied via distribution networks and sold to our customers throughout Poland, both households and businesses, institutions and local authorities. PGE Energetyka Kolejowa S.A. connects the railway with the country’s power system, supplies and sells energy to individual railway infrastructure facilities and ultimately to trains. Our business activities are complemented by the segment, whereby waste generated from the production of electricity is sent as full-value substances for use in other branches of the economy.
Current and target business model
PGE Capital Group organised its activities in 2023 in eight operating segments:
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Conventional generation
Core business of the segment includes extraction of lignite, production of electricity and heat from conventional sources.
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District heating
The core business of the segment includes production of electricity and heat in cogeneration sources as well as transmission and distribution of heat.
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Renewables
The core business of the segment includes electricity generation from renewable sources and in pumped-storage power plants.
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Supply
The core business of the segment includes wholesale trading of electricity on domestic and international market, sale of electricity to final off-takers, trading of CO2 allowances, and energy certificates and fuels and provision of services of the Corporate Centre to companies from the PGE Group.
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Distribution
The core business of the segment includes supply of electricity to final off-takers through the grid and HV, MV and LV infrastructure.
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Railway energy services
The segment’s main activities are the distribution and sale of electricity to railway operators and customers functioning within the railway system, the sale of fuels, as well as the maintenance and modernisation of overhead contact line network, together with other auxiliary services.
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Circular economy
The activities of the segment include the provision of comprehensive services in the field of management of combustion by-products (“UPS”), provision of services in auxiliary areas for electricity and heat producers and the supply of materials based on UPS.
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Other operations
Other operations include provision of services, through the subsidiaries, to PGE Capital Group, which include organisation of capital raising in form of Eurobonds (PGE Sweden), provision of IT, transportation and investing in start-ups.
Additionally, within the segment there are companies responsible for construction of CCGT units in Gryfino (PGE Gryfino 2050 sp. z o.o.), new low-emission unit in Rybnik (Rybnik 2050 sp. z o.o.) and other project companies of the Group.
According to the binding PGE Group’s strategy, a change to the PGE Group’s business model is planned, including the carve-out of coal assets from the Group concentrated in the Conventional Generation segment. However, the timetable for the sale of coal assets and its final shape also depends on decisions at government level. The change in business model is the Group’s response to the profound changes in the sector that have taken place in recent years and the social expectations that will determine its future.
As a transition leader, the PGE Group pledges to reduce its environmental impact by achieving climate neutrality in 2050.
Sustainable reduction of emissions is planned by changing generation technologies, expanding the RES portfolio and enabling customers to participate in the energy transition through attractive product offerings.
PGE Group’s key growth directions will be offshore and onshore wind power, photovoltaics, grid infrastructure, low- and zero-carbon district heating and energy services. The divestment and curtailment areas include: coal power generation and support areas outside the core business.
Along with progress in plan to sale coal assets, our model will change – from its key role as an electricity generator, PGE will become primarily an energy distributor. Only with the implementation of investments in new generation sources, gas-fired units and especially offshore wind farms, will PGE’s generating potential be rebuilt.