Poland is facing a coal crunch long before the heating season begins. The country will likely have to import massive volumes of coal this winter, and the shortage will be felt across households, agriculture and the power sector, warns a leading trade unionist.
Bogusław Ziętek, head of the Sierpień 80 trade union, points to a global surge in demand for coal. The trend is driven by the United States’ pro-coal policy and by Asian economies, including India and China, which are steadily expanding their coal-based energy potential.
– For the first time in living memory, coal output in Poland is rising, but we will soon feel the shortage anyway. This applies to energy coal for utilities as well as coal for individual buyers, agriculture and municipal economy – he said.
Mines cannot cover household demand
The situation is already visible at Polska Grupa Górnicza. People wanting to buy fuel on the retail market have to join a queue and wait, Ziętek said.
Recent annual demand for coarse coal in Poland has been around 6 million tonnes. That figure is considered understated because many households, especially in the south-eastern part of the country, burn wood. Yet domestic mines are far from able to supply even 6 million tonnes.
– Polish mines are not able to produce more than 2.5-3 million tonnes of such coal per year, and the largest portion, about 2-2.2 million tonnes, comes from Polska Grupa Górnicza – he explained.
Huge imports needed for winter
Ziętek says the math leaves no doubt about the coming season. Poland will need vast imports of heating coal, and the same applies to steam coal for professional power generation.
– As these numbers show, we will have to import enormous quantities of heating coal next winter. The same will be true for energy coal for professional power engineering, because it is already visible that the attempt to quickly abandon conventional energy has no chance of success – he said.
Despite the demand growth, coal producers are not benefiting from higher prices. The government, according to Ziętek, is using manual controls to block price increases on the retail heating coal market and on coal sold to the professional power sector.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. New Africa / Shutterstock
