Big EU countries such as France and Germany suggest that Poland should reduce its dependence on coal for its electricity. But Mieczysław Kasprzak explains why coal is so important to the country.
Mieczysław Kasprzak is secretary of state at the Polish Ministry of Economy. He spoke to EurActiv Poland chief editor Maria Graczyk.
Poland, which gets about 90% of its electricity from coal, published a draft ‘Renewables bill’ last December, aimed at spurring alternative energy. Amendments have been introduced since and consultations on the new draft bill have now come to an end. What is the philosophy of the bill?
The bill focuses on the process of exploitation. The differentiation of support is derived from three main factors: the type of source, the power which is installed and, finally, the year in which the project is put into operation. In the process of determining support, these three factors are taken into consideration. The older the device means that less support may be expected. Secondly, the smaller the source, the greater is support it needs, due to the unit costs attached.
The type of the source is also of great significance. There are sources which generate power at a lower cost as well as sources whose cost of generating one megawatt hour (MW-h) is higher. The higher the cost, the greater degree of support is foreseen.
The fragmentation of the production of energy, or its diversification, is also one of the key points of the bill and the policy. Our concern is to produce energy in small plants, as close to the final consumer as possible, in order to avoid its waste while it is transferred. We would also like to let people produce heat and power themselves.
