This week in Poland, Katowice hosts the XI European Economic Congress, the largest such event in Central Europe.
The first day included an interesting debate on “Power and power generation – revolution, regulations and market”. Panellists, including the EURACOAL President and Chairman of the Board of the Polish Mining Group (PGG), Mr. Tomasz Rogala, expressed their views on rising energy prices, the roll out of renewable energy sources (RES) and power-sector investments, as well as on the overall security of Europe’s energy system. Other speakers included Mr. Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, the Lithuanian Minister of Energy, Mr. Krzysztof Tchórzewski, the Minister of Energy in Poland, and not forgetting Mr. Dominique Ristori, the Director-General for Energy at the European Commission.
Mr. Krzysztof Tchórzewski, Polish Minister of Energy, addresses the XI European Economic Congress, Katowice, Poland, 13 May 2019
Today in Brussels, the EURACOAL President, Tomasz Rogala who is also Chairman of the Polish Mining Group (PGG), spoke alongside Signe Ratso, Deputy Director-General for Research and Innovation in the European Commission, at a seminar on the future of coal and steel research supported by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS).
Klaus Peters of the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP) posing a question at the RFCS Steel and Coal seminar, Brussels, 28 March 2019
The Polish coal industry was a major sponsor of the UNFCCC COP24 climate conference held in Katowice during the first two weeks of December 2018.
On 13 December, EURACOAL members joined a panel on coal gasification in the Polish Pavilion, chaired by Prof. Stanisław Prusek of the Central Mining Institute (GIG).
Prof. Stanisław Prusek, General Director, Główny Instytut Górnictwa (GIG – Central Mining Institute) at COP24, Katowice, 13 December 2018
On 30 November in Katowice, ahead of COP24, the Secretary General of EURACOAL spoke on behalf of members at the annual political dialogue of the Coal Regions in Transition Platform.
EURACOAL fully supports the platform and notes the good progress made by the European Commission in less than one year. Members are active with concrete project proposals, and the secretariat in Brussels is busy compiling a coal research agenda that fits with the European Commission’s long-term climate strategy, proposed just two days before the dialogue.
Presentation by EURACOAL President, Mr. Tomasz Rogala (click to download)
Addressing the third working group meetings of the Coal Regions in Transition Platform in Brussels on 5 November 2018, EURACOAL President Rogala advised that, when talking of change in the coal mining sector, the conversation must reflect the importance and maturity of this sector’s value chain.
L-R: Mr. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Secretary of State and Government Plenipotentiary for the restructuring of hard coal mining in Poland; MEP Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR, PL); and Kazimierz Grajcarek, Solidarność at the European Parliament, Brussels, 9 October 2018Presentation by EURACOAL President, Mr. Tomasz Rogala (click to download)
On 9 October at the European Parliament in Brussels, MEP Jadwiga Wiśniewska hosted trade unionists, industrialists and Secretary of State Tobiszowski for a conference on the Polish way to a clean environment. This aims to replace the concept of “decarbonisation” with one of “climate neutrality” whereby CO2 emissions are balanced by CO2 absorption in forests. EURACOAL was represented by President, Tomasz Rogala at this sequel to an earlier event in Katowice, Poland. He spoke on the climate challenge, balanced by the need to maintain energy security and economic competitiveness in the European Union.
At the request of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NEURC), EURACOAL has given its opinion on an official coal-pricing methodology introduced in 2016. The coal price is used when setting regulated electricity tariffs in Ukraine.
A brand new exhibition on coal, hosted at the European Parliament in Strasbourg by MEP Jadwiga Wiśniewska, was opened on 11 September 2018 by Mr. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Secretary of State for Energy in Poland. The EURACOAL President, Mr. Tomasz Rogala, who also chairs the Polish Mining Group (PGG), was on hand to explain why coal will remain an important component of Europe’s energy mix for some years to come.
At the 10th European Economic Congress, held on 14-16 May 2018 at the International Conference Centre and Spodek in Katowice, many important issues concerning the mining and energy sectors were discussed. Alongside the Polish Energy Minister, Krzysztof Tchórzewski, and the Deputy Energy Minister, Grzegorz Tobiszewski, participants on the key panels included, Tomasz Rogala, CEO of Polska Grupa Górnicza (PGG – Polish Mining Group) and President of EURACOAL, as well as the First Vice President of EURACOAL, Vladimír Budinský and Janusz Olszowski, the President of the Polish Mining Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GIPH) which is a member of EURACOAL. Thanks to them, the voice of the coal was loudly heard during the European Economic Congress. Continue reading A strong EURACOAL voice at the European Economic Congress in Katowice→
The European Commission’s “Clean Energy for All Europeans” package of proposals is an important step towards a properly functioning internal market for electricity, this being an objective that EURACOAL fully supports. However, the good progress made to date might be jeopardised if capacity mechanisms are subject to an emission performance standard.
The proposal is diametrically opposite to the EU’s objective of creating a competitive, technology-neutral, non-discriminatory internal electricity market.
It would favour investment in expensive, new gas-fired power stations to replace the existing coal stations that already balance renewables and ensure reliable power.
With more expensive, imported gas, electricity supply would become more expensive and less secure.
The electricity sector would be subject to a pointless double regulation, without actually reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: the sector’s emissions are already capped by the cost-efficient EU emissions trading system (ETS) to meet politically agreed targets.
EU member states would lose their sovereign right to determine their own energy mixes (Art.194 TFEU).
The European Commission’s proposal to deny access to capacity markets by setting an emission performance standard of 550 gCO2/kWh should be rejected.
Read EURACOAL’s position here and refer also to the similar positions of EURELECTRIC, representing power utilities, ENTSO-E, representing transmission system operators, CEER, representing regulators, EFET, representing energy traders, and BusinessEurope.
The Prime Minister of Poland, Ms. Beata Szydło, opened the International Mining Fair with a positive message on coal. In her address, she stated that Poland wants a power sector based on a secure energy mix, with special places for hard coal and lignite. By 2050, Poland plans to diminish its coal dependency to 50% on the assumption that a new nuclear power plant will be built. Vice Minister for Energy, Mr. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, said that with the investments now being made in new equipment, the coal mining sector will be able to make a real contribution to the Polish economy. Continue reading International Fair of Mining, Power Industry and Metallurgy 2017, Katowice→
click to download “Climate Demons & Climate Gods” report
For over a quarter of a century, climate science has been widely debated, with a range of views expressed on the role that carbon dioxide (CO2) plays in climate change. Here, two prominent scientists present their views not only on climate science, but also on energy supply and global politics: one at the Vatican and the other at a EURACOAL-hosted dinner debate in the European Parliament. Continue reading A tale of two climate scientists→
Reliable energy. Recultivating land. Repurposing sites. Reducing methane. Research for the future.
powering transition in Europe 