See what’s going on with energy and mining in Poland

01.01.2023

Coal mines in Poland – an updated database from energy.instrat.pl

Coal mines in Poland are still an important part of the Polish energy sector, despite declining production. The updated database of coal mines in Poland, prepared by the energy.instrat.pl team, contains the most comprehensive and up-to-date list of mines, along with other key data on Polish coal mining.

cover graphic: coal mines in Poland grafika w tle: kopalnie węgla w Polsce

Coal mines in Poland - key findings

  • There are currently 23 active coal mines in Poland, extracting coal from 48 deposits. In total, the database contains information on 34 mines and 69 deposits.
  • 71% of Polish hard coal reserves are thermal coal, and 28% are coking coal
  • There has been a decline in production – hard coal production was 42.5 million tonnes in 2023, marking a decrease of 8.67% compared to 2022 (46.5 million tonnes). Lignite production also reached 42.5 million tonnes, down 26.3% year-on-year (57.7 million tonnes in 2022). The largest coal mine, ROW (owned by PGG, the largest mining company), employed between 11 to 12 thousand* people and extracted 6.5 million tonnes of coal (15% of national production).
  • Methane emissions fell, but only due to mine closures. On average, for every tonne of coal mined, a fixed amount of this very potent greenhouse gas is released into the atmosphere. In 2023, KWK Knurów-Szczygłowice (owned by JSW) became the largest emitter of coal mine methane in Poland, with emissions rising from 45 to 64 kt. Such an amount has a similar climate impact as burning approximately 42 000 wagons of coal!

The database is prepared by the energy.instrat.pl team. All collected data, findings and visualisations are under an open licence – we believe that open data is the key to a transparent and just transition.

*Since 2022, PGG stopped disclosing the detailed employment data. Our methodology assumes that it is proportional to the production and yields the value of 12 300 for KWK ROW mine, as an example. However, for this particular mine, the actual value from 2023 is available on the corporate website and is equal to 11 300.

Below, we visualise selected data that can be extracted from the database. In what follows, we outline what is new in the latest edition, provide a full list of contents and discuss information on the mining sector more broadly.

New additions to the database

  • Updated data for 2023 (production, employment, methane emissions, industrial resources)
  • Current schedule of mine closures and permit duration
  • Production by coal type presented according to geological classification (31+32, 33, etc.), which replaces our own distinction between thermal and coking types
  • Simplifications in the naming and selection of presented data on methane emissions from two data sources
  • Changes in the methodology for selecting employment data, due to reduced availability of company data

Full list of contents

  • List of coal and lignite mines and deposits. In total, the database contains information on 34 mines and 69 deposits
  • Criteria for inclusion of a deposit in the database: extraction of min. 2 000 tonnes or categorised by PGI (Polish Geological Institute – PIG) as exploited constantly or periodically after 2015.
  • Organisational structure: owner, mine, organisational units, deposits
  • Extraction according to PGI data and company reports
  • Employment in mines
  • Methane emissions from WUG and KOBiZE and relative methane intensity (emissions per tonne of coal extracted)
  • Dates of commissioning and decommissioning of mines and exploitation of deposits
  • Mining permits: dates of validity and identification numbers
  • Location: city, voivodship, coordinates
  • Extraction according to geological classification of coal types

Mines in Poland - structure and organisational changes

As of December 2024, 19 hard coal mines and 4 lignite mines remain active in Poland. There were 43 hard coal deposits in operation (including Bobrek-Miechowice 2 operated by ZG Siltech until the end of 2024) and 5 lignite deposits. Hard coal is mined in the Śląskie, Małopolskie and Lubelskie Voivodships. The main points on the map of lignite mining are: Bełchatów (Łódzkie Voivodship), Turów (Dolnośląskie Voivodship) and Konin-Tomisławice (Wielkopolskie and partly Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodships), where mining is in the final phase of decommissioning. The president of ZE PAK announced the end of mining at the Tomisławice open pit in 2026. The smallest Polish lignite mine is KWB Sieniawa in the Lubuskie Voivodship.

In 2023, the Polish coal sector underwent significant organisational and restructuring changes. JSW carried out the integration of KWK Jastrzębie-Bzie with KWK Borynia-Zofiówka, resulting in the creation of KWK Borynia-Zofiówka-Bzie, consisting of three organisational units, including the newly formed “Bzie” organisational unit.

SRK (Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń – state owned mine restructuring company) has ceased operations and closed the Krupiński, Wieczorek II and Centrum mines. Preparations are also underway to close the Pokój I–II mine.

Węglokoks Kraj came under the control of the State Treasury, while LWB Bogdanka is intensively preparing for the exploitation of the K-6 and K-7 deposits.

Decline in hard coal and lignite production

In 2023, Poland saw significant changes in coal resources and production, as recorded by the Polish Geological Institute.

Hard coal production was 42.5 million tonnes, down 8.67% on the previous year. Documented hard coal balance resources reached 64.6 billion tonnes, of which 71% was thermal coal and 28% coking coal.

The largest decreases in production occurred in the following mines:

  • LW Bogdanka: decrease of 1.0 million tonnes (17%),
  • ZG Sobieski: decrease of 0.70 million tonnes (42%),
  • KWK Ruda: decrease of 0.56 million tonnes (24%).

Lignite production also amounted to 42.5 million tonnes, down 26.3% year-on-year. This was the result of a number of factors, such as a reduction in production, resource depletion due to mining losses, the recognition of deposits during mining, and the reclassification of some industrial resources to non-industrial resources in the Bełchatów-pole Bełchatów and Bełchatów-pole Szczerców deposits. In 2023, no new deposit management projects or updates have been developed.

Significant decreases in mining volumes were recorded in five exploited lignite deposits:

  • Bełchatów-pole Szczerców: decrease of 9.9 million tonnes (24%),
  • Turów: decrease of 2.0 million tonnes (21%),
  • Bełchatów-pole Bełchatów: decrease of 1.4 million tonnes (39%),
  • Tomisławice: decrease of 0.7 million tonnes (59%),
  • Pątnów IV: decrease of 0.3 million tonnes (41%).

JSW owns the mines emitting the most methane, followed by PGG.

Methane is a byproduct of coal mining in most hard coal mines. Its mixture with air is explosive and causes great danger to miners. It is also a greenhouse gas, which effect is 82 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide (on a 20-year scale).

  • The challenges associated with methane are mainly faced by JSW and PGG,
  • PKW has only one mine emitting methane, while Węglokoks, Bogdanka, Eko-Plus and Siltech do not have this problem at all,

In 2023, JSW’s Knurów-Szczygłowice coal mine emitted the most: 64 000 tonnes of methane. Such an amount has a similar impact on the climate as burning about 42 000 wagons of coal!

A database of coal mines in Poland is available on energy.instrat.pl in open access. We encourage you to explore the database and make your own conclusions.

As a reminder, monthly coal mining statistics can be viewed on our website in the Mining section. Their summary with commentary is provided by the monthly Coal Brief.

Contact

Wojciech Przedlacki, Product Owner energy.instrat.pl, wojciech.przedlacki@instrat.pl

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