Poland to Switch 1-GW Coal Power Project to Gas: Press

The developers behind what was expected to the last coal-fired power plant to be built in Poland now want to convert the planned facility to run on gas, Bloomberg reported on February 17 citing sources.

The long-delayed plan to build the 1-GW Ostroleka power station was revived in 2016, a year after Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party took office on a platform of protecting the nation’s coal industry from collapse. But state-owned power utilities Enea and Energa have now asked lead contractor General Electric to switch the plant from coal to gas, according to Bloomberg.

The two Polish firms suspended financing for the $1.5bn project on February 13, citing changes in the European Investment Bank (EIB)'s lending policy and a bid by Polish refiner PKN Orlen to acquire Energa. The EIB has pledged to stop all funding for unabated fossil fuel projects by the end of 2021, while PKN is also in favour of converting the Ostroleka project to gas.