Polish government drops coal merger idea

The previous government’s plan assumed the creation of one large state-owned company NABE, that would pool the assets of power plants generating energy from coal. However, according to the Minister of Industry, this is not a good idea.

“The problem of coal assets would not be solved, but only transferred to the state treasury, i.e. onto the shoulders of taxpayers. The NABE project will not be implemented,” she said in an interview.

Czarnecka said that linking coal-fired power plants with mines is being considered instead and the ministry will talk to banks to develop an optimal and acceptable model for them, so that they can finance the green transformation of energy groups.

“However, I am convinced that there is no other way than to assign a given power plant to a given mine. Otherwise, this process will not take place,” she said.

“In July, we should present a plan to ‘assign’ specific mines to specific power plants. In September, we will present legal solutions on how to implement this idea. We would like to complete this process of arrangements this year.”