‘The INGA Joint Venture is another initiative implemented by the Executive Agency of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, who encourages businesses to develop groundbreaking projects in partnership with research institutions. Cooperative links between science and business benefit the innovation ecosystem in Poland, directly enhancing the competitive position of Polish economy,’ says Jarosław Gowin, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Science and Higher Education.

In the call for proposals, grants totalling almost PLN 80m (to be financed both by the NCBR and the industrial partners: GAZ-SYSTEM SA and PGNiG SA) were recommended to be awarded to innovative projects, which will be pursued by research or research and industry consortia. The grants will be used to undertake work on the exploration for hydrocarbon deposits in deep structures of the Outer Carpathians, utilisation of methane from closed mines of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, development of a technology for obtaining dimethyl ether in the context of developing small hydrocarbon deposits, as well as technologies for dampening noise from gas facilities and for gas pipeline monitoring.

‘The purpose of joint ventures formed between the National Centre for Research and Development and companies or local government institutions is to achieve a predetermined objective. For instance, in the case of the SYNChem Joint Venture such objective is to make the Polish chemical industry more competitive, while in the case of the BRIK Joint Venture – it is stimulate innovation in railway infrastructure. As regards INGA, our focus is on supporting research and development work in the gas sector, in which we see scope for advanced work, based on the latest achievements of science,’ says Professor Aleksander Nawrat, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research and Development.

‘I am deeply convinced that the research and development projects selected in the first call for proposals by the INGA Joint Venture will soon produce innovative technologies allowing us to not only make considerable progress in the area of gas exploration and production, distribution and customer service, but also translating into financial gains ,’ said Łukasz Kroplewski, Vice President of the PGNiG Management Board for Development. ‘INGA is the first joint venture with the National Centre for Research and Development to comprehensively address such a wide range of research themes covering the gas industry’s entire value chain, with the aim of making the sector more innovative and competitive, rather than solving selected technological problems. We intend to sign contracts with the selected applicants and commence the projects by the end of this year, ‘added Mr Kroplewski.

‘Improving the Polish gas market’s competitiveness is a priority goal for the GAZ-SYSTEM Group. Projects pursued by our company, including extension of the LNG Terminal in Świnoujście, or construction of the Baltic Pipe and interconnections with the gas systems of neighbouring countries, enabling gas transmission from the north to the south of Europe to shift away from the now predominant east-west direction, all help us further that goal. Initiatives such as the INGA Joint Venture play a crucial role in that process by strengthening working ties between the sector’s research and business. I hope that the call for proposals that has just been closed is just the first in a series of joint initiatives that will contribute to enhancing the Polish gas sector’s innovative and competitive performance and to solving significant research problems ,’ said Artur Zawartko, Vice President of the GAZ-SYSTEM Management Board.

The purpose of the initiative, announced last autumn, is to make the Polish gas sector more innovative and competitive on the global market, and in particular to accelerate the implementation of innovative projects in that area, enhance the efficiency of the Polish gas sector and reduce its environmental impact. INGA is being implemented by the NCBR in partnership with PGNIG SA and Gaz-System SA in the form of a Joint Venture. It is a dedicated mechanism for co-financing R&D efforts by the NCBR, under which the Centre shares in the research risk and gives financial support to cover 50% of the cost of a research agenda addressing key technological, research and development problems of the other JV partners. Its total earmarked budget is PLN 400m.

KEY FIGURES:

• Proposals were submitted by 40 research institutions and 25 companies organised into research and technical consortia.
• 64 projects were proposed, with a total value of PLN 390m.

  Warsaw, September 4th 2018