University classes to go online as energy crisis deepens
-
Loading... - charles daisey
- 02 Nov 2022
- 71 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Facing massive hikes in electricity prices in 2023, Polish universities are putting plans in place to switch to online lectures and cut access to facilities on weekends, but they remain hopeful the government will step in to help ease at least some of the burden.
Poland is bracing itself for an unprecedented energy crisis brought upon the country of 38 million people by Russia’s war against Ukraine which has pushed up commodity prices, including coal. Despite more recent investment in renewable sources of energy, coal remains the staple fuel of Poland’s electricity generation.
Expensive coal and gas are inflating electricity prices – and not only because of the war. Generating electricity from emissions-heavy coal requires Polish electricity utilities to pay extra to cover the purchase of carbon dioxide emission permits, with their price hovering around €70 (US$68) per tonne for a year now and triple its cost in 2020.
The end result is that Polish electricity prices – as they apply to supply in 2023 – are currently at around PLN1,100-1,300 (US$220-260) per kilowatt-hour on the Polish Power Exchange, TGE. That is between three and four times the supply contracts rate for 2022.
Locally, the hikes could be even more precipitous as energy distribution and retail companies add on their own costs and margins.
700% increase in costs
Poland’s oldest university, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, is facing a 700% increase in its electricity supply bill next year. In nominal terms, the university will need to find PLN182 million (US$36 million) to cover its electricity bills next year, compared to PLN27 million (US$5 million) in 2022.
“I have been working at the university for over 40 years, but I do not remember rectors [of Polish universities] talking in such dramatic terms about how their schools are going to work,” Jagiellonian University Rector Jacek Popiel said recently as he inaugurated the university’s 659th academic year.
“We need to develop a savings programme as soon as possible … but even with maximum savings, we will not be able to bear the burden of increasing prices of energy and other utilities without a significant increase in subsidies,” Popiel added.
The Jagiellonian University has an emergency plan, involving a switch to online classes to begin on specific dates … [in] October, continuing until January at least. The university is also considering dropping Fridays from its work schedule.
The Jagiellonian University hopes that the massive hike in the cost of electricity will not ultimately come to pass and has not fully accepted it yet, hoping that the government will offer relief for entities like universities, as it has for households. Read More…
