To begin with, let’s take a look at how much electricity was produced from hard coal and other fuels over the month. Supplying a substantial part of the demand is coal’s fundamental, though not the only role.
February was characterised by very low wind speeds, meaning that energy production from wind turbines (1.4 TWh) was much lower than in the previous three years or the previous month. Weak wind and low winter production from photovoltaics meant zero-emission sources provided 16% of energy, the lowest share since December 2022. This translated into the highest share of coal in energy production since September 2023 (64%). Hard coal provided 6.3 TWh, and lignite 3.3 TWh. The role of gas is increasing year on year.
More data on electricity production by source is available on the chart Electricity production, source: ARE
It is worth mentioning that there was a significant decrease in installed capacity in lignite – by as much as 1 244 MW. However, this did not have a very substantial impact on energy production from this fuel. The decline is partly due to the decommissioning of the last operating 20th-century units at the Pątnów power plant and mainly to the change in status of units that had not been in operation for a long time. On 28 December, units 1 and 2 (2x 222 MW) of the Pątnów power plant were shut down (press release on the elektro.info website). Comparing the information available from the Energy Market Agency and information on power generation losses, it can be concluded that units 3, 4 and 6 (decommissioned before 2022) were still listed as installed capacity, and unit 5 (which probably ceased operation in 2022) as available capacity. However, in February, their complete shutdown was likely reported. This leaves only the 17-year-old unit 9 (474 MW) running in Pątnów, and the country now has 7.6 GW of installed lignite-fired capacity.
More data is available on the chart Electricity generation capacity, source: ARE
Hard coal in February
Below, we analyse the monthly data from the hard coal sector. The comments refer to the charts constantly available on energy.instrat.pl in the Mining section.
Symbols mean:
↗️ a rise
↘️ a decrease
= marginal or no difference in comparison to the previous month
Production and sales of hard coal
COAL PRODUCTION – 3.57 Mt ↘
COAL SALES – 3.54 Mt ↘
Coal production dropped significantly in February, by 11% month on month and it is now -46% year on year. The sales also decreased compared to January by 17%, which is 720 000 tonnes.
Hard coal reserves
TOTAL – 11.6 Mt ↘
RESERVES AT MINING SITES (mining) – 4.95 Mt ↘
RESERVES AT MINING SITES, PURCHASED (by the power industry) – 0.35 Mt ↗
RESERVES AT POWER PLANTS (power industry) – 6.31 Mt ↘
The total amount of stocks has been reduced by over 1 million tonnes (around 8%) in another month. The value at the end of February was the lowest since May 2023. The usage of reserves at power plants, equal to 930 000 tonnes, was responsible the most.
Employment in hard coal mining
73 230 persons ↘
Over a month, employment shrunk by over 600 FTEs, the most significant decrease since September 2023.
Hard coal price for electricity generation (PSCMI1)
PSCMI 1 – 367 PLN/t ↗
Coal for the energy industry bounced slightly back up after the sharp fall from the start of the year. It was priced 2% more than in January.
Hard coal price for heating (PSCMI 2)
PSCMI 2 – 468 PLN/t ↘
Coal for heating saw a decrease of 5% month-on-month. The price per gigajoule went below 20 PLN for the first time since July 2022.
Below, we quote additional technical and economic mining data from ARP published quarterly:
Mining costs: 4th quarter: 900 PLN/t, full-year 2024: 944 PLN/t.
That is all in the current issue. We thank you for reading our Coal Brief and invite you to share it.
More information
If you are looking for more information about mining, check out our database: Coal mines in Poland. It contains, among others, a complete list of active deposits, annual statistics of mines and the current closure dates. We invite you to take a look at it!
Contact
Wojciech Przedlacki, Product Owner energy.instrat.pl, [email protected]
