Poland defies EU court ruling to close major lignite mine
Poland's government on Monday defied an injunction by the top European Union court that ordered the immediate closure of a major brown coal mine, with officials saying it would shake the nation’s energy system and lead to the layoff of thousands of employees.
Development Minister Jaroslaw Gowin said Poland wouldn't
shut the lignite mine in Turow, on the border with Germany and the Czech
Republic, but instead was engaged in “very intensive diplomatic and law-related
efforts,” to secure undisturbed operation of the mine and connected power plant
that generates some 7% of Poland's energy.
The EU’s Court of Justice on Friday ordered Poland to
immediately stop operation of the mine, heeding Prague’s complaints that it
drained groundwater from Czech territory and that Poland recently extended its
license without proper prior environmental assessment. It's a temporary
measure, pending the court's full ruling.
Gowin said he considers the court's decision “scandalously
incommensurate” to the situation and one that would lead to the “loss of tens of
thousands of jobs and very serious disturbances in Poland's energy system,”
cutting power to millions of households.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was holding an emergency
meeting with the managers of state energy company PGE, which runs the mine and
the plant, and regional authorities in Wroclaw, in the southwest.
He later said Poland will engage in negotiations with Prague
and will also make new points before the EU court to clearly describe the
situation to avoid a “disaster.”
The court's decision is “very dangerous from the point of
view of potential threats to the ecology, but it is also dangerous for Poland's
energy security and for the employment of some 5,000 people” working at Turow,
Morawiecki said.
He noted that both the Czech Republic and Germany are
operating lignite mines and power plants close to Poland's borders.
In an effort to follow the EU's ambitious carbon dioxide
reduction goals, Poland is gradually phasing out its main fuel, black coal, but
still relies on lignite. Critics says the departure from coal and ushering
clean energy is much too slow, amid traditional attention given to coal-mining.
A recent energy plan says the last coal mine will be shut by
2049, but critics say it will happen sooner, because Poland's coal production
is inefficient and generates enormous costs that are covered from the state
budget.
The EU wants at least 32% participation of renewable sources
in the 27-nation bloc's electricity generation by 2030, but Poland's plan aims
at some 23% participation of green energy, and still up to 56% participation of
coal in its energy mix.
Government authorities say they have been in talks with
Prague — a close political and economic partner — over the Turow mine for years
and believed an understanding had been reached. Critics and the opposition say
it hasn't done enough, but all in Poland agree that closing the mine and the
power plant is not possible.
An unexpected automated outage last week at another PGE
lignite power plant, in Belchatow, was felt across the European energy grid and
made operators scramble to make up for the lost power. On Saturday, Belchatow
plant's largest power unit was shut after coal being conveyed to the unit went
on fire. A smaller, reserve unit was put to work in its place.
The head of Poland's PSE power grid, Eryk Klossowski, told a
meeting of the parliamentary energy security group Monday that it wouldn't be
acceptable for the grid to lose Turow's input. He said the plant is connected
to a power transmission station that is key for the southwestern region and for
interconnection with east Germany.
PGE deputy head, Pawel Sliwa, told an emergency meeting of a
parliamentary commission that closing the mine would also entail closing the
power plant that it supplies. He estimated the costs at around 13.5 billion
zlotys ($3.6 billion or 3 billion euros), the layoff of thousands of employees
and lost investment into filters and other pro-environment modernization.
Coal makes up 65% of Poland’s energy sources, including 17%
from lignite, while about 25% of the country’s energy comes from renewable
sources and biofuels. Another 10% come from gas and other sources.
Poland’s continuing heavy reliance on coal is a source of
tension in the EU, which is seeking to meet ambitious goals to reduce the
bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming.
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