The Polish government plans to resuscitate the coal industry as the backbone of the country’s energy security, with the aid of state support, following events in Ukraine, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday.
“Energy security and responsibility for the community means the need to skillfully delineate between chasing profits and the rehabilitation, not only of Polish coal, but the rehabilitation of people who work hard everyday, so that we transform the slogan of energy security into practical action,’ Tusk told the European Economic Congress in Katowice.
He said that in the light of the Ukrainian crisis Poland would build its own energy independence through the use of “state tools, the possibility of state financing and organization.”
“Energy security must have some costs…A fundamental part of energy security, mining and the power sector, demands state help and support,” he added.
Poland has Europe’s largest hard coal reserves and the fuel, together with lignite, produces about 90% of the country’s electricity.
But Kompania Weglowa (KW), Poland’s and Europe’s largest hard coal miner, is facing tough economic times due to imports of cheaper coal and resulting lower demand from the power sector.