Can you believe Impact’18 has already happened? And what an event it was! With over 250 speakers on four big stages and 6000 attendees, one could easily get overwhelmed. If you by any chance missed some of the activities, we’ve prepared a quick roundup of what Polish Development Fund (PFR), Impact’18 Partner, was up to during the two days.
Day one at Impact’18 was definitely busy for PFR’s representatives. Their presence at the conference started with Eliza Kruczkowska, CIO at PFR, leading the challenger talk “Mentor, coach or imposter – listen to others or do it yourself?”
Later in the day, Paweł Borys, President of the Management Board PFR, gave a keynote speech on the trending topic of Industry 4.0: “How to finance the Fourth Industrial Revolution?”. Afterwards, the visitors could attend a moderated discussion about investments in the age of fake news, in which the Director at PFR Ventures, Małgorzata Walczak, took part. She later went on to sit on a jury during STARTUP4EXPORT, a pitching session/a presentation of the best startups in Europe.
On day two, PFR participated led a workshop on how to develop, finance and sell Polish R&D, from academic license to commercialisation, presenting the case study of PFR Life Science and Selvita.
What’s more in stock for PFR? Well, they have recently announced a big deal with TAURON, a Polish energy holding company. They’ll be investing 880 million PLN in the construction of a 910 MW power unit in Jaworzno, by acquiring new shares in the special purpose vehicle Nowe Jaworzno Grupa TAURON (NJGT), which will carry out the construction.
The unit will be designed to meet environmental protection standards, that is the reduction CO2 and other gas emissions. Its net efficiency will be 45.9%, and the annual consumption of coal is estimated to reach ~2.8 million tonnes. TAURON Group will also provide most of the fuel from their mines. It is currently the largest venture in the investment programme of TAURON Group.
“I am glad that new investments in the energy sector are being implemented,” said the Minister of Energy, Krzysztof Tchórzewski. “As a result, the energy sector will be ready for the challenges it will face in the coming years. The construction of the 910 MW power unit in Jaworzno is a critical investment. The new unit will produce up to 6.5 TWh of electricity a year, which could supply 2.5 million households.”
The good news is that the general efficiency of power units is expected to increase by 10%, which is much better compared to those built in the 1970s or 1980s. That means approximately 2 million tonnes less of CO2 will enter the atmosphere! The Jaworzno power unit will also be CCS ready, that is, prepared for the construction of CO2 capture from flue gas installations.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for the cooperation!
