Poland will not increase number of coal power plants

“We will not back out of coal, but neither will our future electricity production developments be based on coal,” and that in the long term, “the growth of Polish electricity production will not come from coal,” Pietrewicz explained at an energy summit in Gdańsk.

However the Deputy Minister said that Poland would not be closing down existing coal plants, which currently account for 85 p of Polish electricity production, but will instead focus on reducing emissions at these plants, increasing their efficiency and potentially introducing a smart grid.

At the same summit, Pietrewicz also warned that the EU’s energy policy may result in higher production costs in Poland and more imports of electricity.

Poland already imports two TWh of electricity a year.

“The EU is preparing to tighten its policy, towards raising the price of CO2 emission permits, and this means that costs in our electricity industry, which is reliant on solid fuels, will rise and its competitiveness will therefore decrease,” the deputy minister argued.

Meanwhile Janusz Steinhoff, former deputy Prime Minister and now a PwC advisor, claimed that “if the [EU’s] cost of CO2 emissions reaches EUR 40 per ton, then this threatens to double our electricity prices.”

According to Steinhoff, Poland currently emits roughly one ton of CO2 for every MWh of electricity produced. (sl/rg)

Source: PAP