WARSAW, April 13 (Reuters) - Poland's energy exports will rise this year after Germany's decision to phase out its oldest nuclear plants, which lifted prices and margins, the deputy head of grid operator PSE said on Wednesday.
A nuclear crisis in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami led Germany to shut its seven oldest nuclear power plants for at least three months, which increased demand for wind-generated power.
German wind power producers shifted to supplying their domestic market after previously exporting to the Czech Republic via Poland. That opened up an opportunity for Poland to supply Germany and the Czech Republic.
"We saw exports jump after Germany's decision, not only because prices rose, but also because the amount of wind-generated power flowing through Poland to the Czech Republic dropped significantly, freeing capacities," Jerzy Andruszkiewicz told reporters.
Poland's surplus in the trade of power rose two and half times to 1.6 gigawatt-hours in the first three months of 2011, PSE operator data showed.
Andruszkiewicz added that a bigger rise in foreign energy trade will be possible in 2014, when a network upgrade in Poland will make some 400 megawatts in capacity available for trade.
The European Union's largest ex-communist economy remains a largely isolated energy market with foreign trade a mere 4-5 percent of annual power production, which the European Commission wants to change with its single energy market plan by 2015. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski, editing by Jane Baird)