Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
9/6/13
Environmental groups and a handful of members of the EU Parliament are alleging that 1.8 GW of new coal capacity in Poland is “illegal” because it skirts European Union carbon capture and storage laws. The plant’s opponents are now calling on the European Commission to block Poland from constructing the coal units. European environmental groups like Bellona and the ClientEarth Foundation have spoken out against the €2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) expansion at Poland’s Opole coal-fired power plant, saying that the Polish government has greenlighted the new capacity without first making the two 900 MW units CCS-ready, a requirement under a 2009 EU law known as the CCS Directive. “We repeatedly pointed out that the project stands in violation to the EU law. The lack of response from the government has forced us to intervene in Brussels,” said Martin Stoczkiewicz, a lawyer from ClientEarth, who sent a complaint against the Polish government to the EC.
The Brussels-based EurActiv initially reported the news, saying that that half-a-dozen members of the European Parliament officially submitted questions on the expansion to Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, related to the EC’s awareness of the issue. Meanwhile, the Norwegian environmental NGO Bellona also said the project is “in breach of the EU CCS Directive.” “Contrary to the Directive’s requirement, the local authority did not ensure that the developer, the Polish state controlled energy giant PGE, undertook the necessary assessment of CCS feasibility,” Bellona said on its website. “…Any construction would lead to an irreversible and tangible breach of EU law.” Construction of the two units is expected to begin in December, according to EurActiv.
‘Entrenching Coal Dependence’
The dispute came after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this summer that he would greenlight the Opole expansion, even after the project’s developer, PGE, announced this spring that it would not proceed with construction due to weak demand and low electricity prices. “We confirmed readiness to build the power plant in Opole. The government will find funds for the investment to be developed,” Tusk said during a June press conference, according to Reuters. An analysis of the expansion from the Polish Climate Coalition concluded that the plant’s emissions could exceed 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 over the next 55 years, the expected economic lifetime of the two new units, and put Poland in jeopardy of missing its renewable energy targets. “Entrenching the Polish dependence on coal is generally a poor long-term investment decision, and to do so without CCS in mind is toying with the EU’s energy future,” Bellona said.
The heavily coal-reliant nation has used its relatively cheap energy and lax environmental laws to its advantage in recent years, becoming a hotbed for European manufacturing and economic growth. The Polish government has often fought stricter environmental regulations coming out of Brussels, most recently an effort to artificially increase the price of carbon credits on the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme. The country has also resisted CCS. PGE pulled the plug on its only carbon capture project earlier this spring due to lack of funding, and the government—along with many others across Europe—has failed to transpose the EU’s must-pass CCS Directive. The EC kicked off so-called infringement proceedings against Poland in July 2011. Finalized in 2009, the legally-binding Directive provides a blanket regulatory framework governing CO2 transport and storage in the EU, establishing protocols for site permitting, risk management, monitoring and long-term liability, among other factors. The Directive also requires all new coal units to be ‘CCS-ready.’
