In the second half of each month, we publish a set of key statistics on coal mining in Poland on our blog. The data is published with a 1.5-month delay, following announcements by the Energy Market Agency and the Industrial Development Agency, Katowice Branch.
Let’s now take a look at how much electricity was produced from hard coal and other fuels over the course of last reported month. Supplying a substantial part of the demand is coal’s fundamental, though not the only role.
In May, 14.4 TWh was fed into Poland’s national power system. The primary source of electricity was hard coal-fired power plants (4.3 TWh, accounting for 30% of the total). Together with lignite-fired plants, they contributed over 7 TWh of electricity, accounting for nearly half of the electricity mix.
In total, CO2-intensive sources accounted for two-thirds of May’s electricity, with gas-fired power plants (1.5 TWh) and biomass power plants (0.76 TWh) contributing to this figure in addition to coal-fired units.
Photovoltaic power plants set another record. They fed over 3 TWh of energy into the grid, the highest figure on record (a 21% share of the electricity mix). Wind turbines generated half as much (an 11% share).
In May, onshore wind capacity exceeded 11 GW. Since the beginning of this year, nearly as many new turbines have been added as in all of last year. Additionally, the capacity of battery energy storage systems (BESS) reported to ARE has already exceeded 1 GW. This has been the case since January of this year; however, quarterly data for this category is released with a longer delay than monthly data.
More data is available on the chart Electricity production, source: ARE and Electricity generation capacity, source: ARE. For several months now, we have been including the aforementioned battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the second chart (currently on a quarterly basis) and visually separating energy storage technology from self-generating power sources.
Hard coal in Poland - May 2026
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 – 3.61 Mt ↗
COAL SALES – 3.45 Mt ↘
In May, coal production rebounded by 5% following a decline in April. This figure is 21% higher than at the same time last year. Sales are also recording much higher results year on year (+17%). Nevertheless, they have fallen by 12% since April and, for the first time since last August, stood below 3.5 Mt.
Hard coal reserves
TOTAL – 8.28 Mt ↘
RESERVES AT MINING SITES (mining) – 2.69 Mt ↘
RESERVES AT MINING SITES, PURCHASED (by the power industry) – 0.28 Mt ↗
RESERVES AT POWER PLANTS (power industry) – 5.32 Mt ↗
Coal reserves at mines fell by over half a million tonnes and are at their lowest level in three years. In contrast, reserves at power plants rose slightly (by over 0.2 Mt).
Total reserves, however, remain at a level comparable to that of April. This is due to an error last month by entities reporting to the ARE regarding the category of coal purchased at mines. At the time, we reported a massive decline in this particular category; nevertheless, it turned out that in May, the figures returned to levels similar to those observed in previous months.
Employment in hard coal mining
67 427 persons ↘
Employment in the mining sector continues to plummet. In May, 1 772 jobs were lost — the largest monthly decline since 2008. Year on year, employment fell by 5 226 people — the largest such decline since 2017.
Hard coal price for electricity generation (PSCMI1)
PSCMI 1 – 305 PLN/t ↘ – 14.04 PLN/GJ ↘
The price of coal for the electricity sector remains at a level similar to that in April (a 1% decline). On an annual basis, however, the index fell by 14%.
Hard coal price for heating (PSCMI 2)
PSCMI 2 – 407 PLN/t ↘ – 17.54 PLN/GJ ↘
The PSCMI 2 index also did not change significantly from the previous month (down 0–1%). Compared to last year, coal for heating is 12–13% cheaper.
Price of domestic vs imported hard coal
PSCMI 1 – 14.04 PLN/GJ ↘
Import (ARA) – 16.83 PLN/GJ ↗
The reference price provided by ARP (Industrial Development Agency) indicates a slight increase in the price of imported coal compared to April. This trend has persisted since the beginning of the year, which, combined with the falling price of Polish coal, widens the gap in favour of the domestic index.
We compare the prices of energy coal (PSCMI 1) with imported energy coal in a unit that takes into account quality differences [PLN/GJ]. Coal for heating (PSCMI 2) is filtered out by default.
More data is available in the section ‘Coal prices and production costs (PL vs import)’
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 recently updated 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!Â
Contact
Wojciech Przedlacki, Product Owner energy.instrat.pl, [email protected]
