Poland is to seek an exemption from European Union emission fees so that it can burn extra coal to supply Ukraine with electricity this winter.
After a meeting with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed his government was planning to burn coal mined in Poland for the benefit of the war-torn country, and would soon seek an EU green exemption to help with the project.
Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure has suffered damage from Russian attacks, with the country expecting to face a serious energy crisis this winter. According to the Financial Times, Ukraine has lost more than half of its power generation capacity since the start of Moscow’s invasion in 2022.
“Our people are discussing how we can directly help supply Ukraine with electricity before winter,” said Tusk at a joint press conference with Zelensky on July 8.
Kolejny sukces negocjacyjny Donalda Tuska! Po tym jak zgodził się na brak reparacji wojennych od Niemiec, dziś zgodził się bez opłat produkować prąd z polskiego węgla dla Ukrainy. Tymczasem dla Polaków od 1 lipca wyższe rachunki za prąd, oczywiście z opłatą ETS.
Czy w tej… pic.twitter.com/ZAghAIuucI
— Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik (@EwaZajaczkowska) July 8, 2024
“We are currently working on being able to burn Polish coal, which we have a lot of at the moment, in a way that we won’t have to pay for burning this coal and for carbon emissions, and to send the electricity generated by Polish power plants from Polish coal for European money via the existing energy bridge to Ukraine,” he added, alluding to the fact that last year Poland and Ukraine opened a 400 kilovolt (kV) “energy bridge” linking their electricity grids.
Tusk’s announcement prompted criticism from some opposition groups, which accused him of putting the needs of Ukraine above those of Poles likely to face higher energy bills this winter.
Janusz Kowalski, a Law and Justice (PiS) party MP, criticised Tusk for seeking to suspend ETS (EU Emissions Trading System) payments for electricity for Ukraine but not for Poland’s own power generation.
“PiS is calling for the suspension of the EU ETS for Poland, while Tusk wants to suspend the EU ETS in Poland in the interests not of Poland but of Ukraine,” Kowalski wrote on X.
“For seven months since coming to office, Tusk has not uttered a single word at the EU forum about the suspension of the EU ETS for Poland.”
Referencing the PM’s recent decision to abandon the claim for reparations made by the previous PiS administration, Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik MEP, the spokeswoman for the right-wing Confederation party, also blasted Tusk on X.
“Another negotiating success from Donald Tusk! After agreeing to no war reparations from Germany, today he has agreed to produce electricity from Polish coal for Ukraine free of charge,” she said.
“Meanwhile, for Poles, from 1 July, higher electricity bills, with an ETS fee, of course.”
“Does the government have plans to take care of Polish families?” she went on to ask.
