Polish Coal-Fired Plant Switches to Gas

State supplier PGNiG has signed a two-year contract to supply EDF's combined heat and power plant in Torun once it has been converted to run on gas, it said June 21. It will also supply the gas for the commissioning phase, it said. In all the company expects to sell about 355mn m³, displacing coal. The new gas-fired plant will have a total installed heat and power generation capacity of, respectively, 330 MWt and 100 MWe.

EDF Torun CEO Robert Kowalski said the plant would have "highly efficient and low-emission facilities to co-generate heat and power. Power production from the plant will enhance the energy security of the town and the region. The replacement of the coal-fired boilers with the new gas-fired CHP plant will reduce emissions of sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter by approximately 90%, greatly contributing to improvement of air quality in Torun," he said.

PGNiG vice-president for trade, Maciej Wozniak, said the contract with EDF for the supply of gas was more "proof that we have a lot to offer. By selecting PGNiG, customers receive not only competitively priced fuel, but also guaranteed supplies from a reliable partner, which is essential for projects of this type”, he added. 

A country report published by the European Commission in 2014 said that Poland was "reluctant to support ambitious EU climate policy targets beyond 2020. This seems to be due to its concerns about energy security and its heavy reliance on coal, of which it has the biggest reserves in the EU and which is instrumental for electricity generation."