Polish coal, Belarusian power

Kulczyk Holding is planning to build a coal-operated power station in Belarus. A letter of intent was signed in London during the Belarus Investment Forum in November.

According to information in Gazeta Wyborcza, the cost of the investment will amount to $1 (zł.2.9) billion and a medium-sized power station, able to produce 800-1,000 MW, will be built. The power station will be fired with Polish coal.

The new Polish-Belarusian investment was confirmed by Alexander Yurtayev, deputy director general of Belarus' state-controlled energy concern Belenergo, which will work with Kulczyk Holding on the investment. He told the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA) that the sides had signed an agreement to jointly implement a project for a coal-fired power plant in Belarus as well as the necessary infrastructure to transmit energy between the two countries.

This "necessary infrastructure" is an essential factor for the project to succeed, according to a manager at one of Poland's energy companies quoted in Gazeta Wyborcza. This will involve the modernization of power transmission lines in the area. At 220 kV, the connection between Poland and Belarus which is located near Białystok has the biggest transmission capacity in the region but has been out of use since 2004.

Yurtayev told BelTA that negotiations between Belenergo and Kulczyk Holding would be held in the future to set terms for cooperation. He added that a joint-stock company would likely be set up to implement the project.

As part of the European Union, Poland has to pay CO2 emission fees. Belarus, however, does not pay these fees and therefore electricity produced there will be cheaper. Gazeta Wyborcza pointed out that when the power plant starts operating, in six to eight years, the price difference will be substantial since emissions fees will have risen even more by that time.