Poland to spend PLN 50 bln on energy transformation – Tchórzewski

According to energy minister Krzysztof Tchórzewski, Poland will have to spend some PLN 50 million in the next 20 years to adapt its energy facilities to meet EU standards. “The European Commission, in its efforts to curb CO2 emissions, proposes solutions that would cost us PLN 150-200 billion. I think such figures are impossible to accept, so we’re in constant negotiations. I believe that PLN 50 billion figure is more realistic,” he explained. EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive requires polluting industrial facilities to meet standards considered to be equivalent to the best available techniques (BAT) for pollution control in their sectors. Among the facilities covered by the stricter pollutant limits would be “all of Europe’s coal-fired power stations, which represent some of the biggest single point sources of these emissions,” the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) said in a statement. The reduced pollution from coal-fired plants would lead to 20,000 fewer premature deaths a year, the bureau said.