Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) is the largest electricity producer in Poland, with a market share of over 30% [1]. Over 90% of the electricity generated by PGE in 2020 was produced by burning coal [2]. In the first half of 2021, PGE generated more than 87% of its electricity from coal combustion.
At the end of June 2021, PGE had coal-fired power plants with a total installed capacity of 6290MWe. The equivalent capacity of the lignite power plant was 7156MWe. PGE is also responsible for the extraction of 92% [3] of lignite in Poland.
The largest hard coal-fired power plants owned by PGE include the Opole Power Plant (over 3.4 GW of installed capacity), the Rybnik Power Plant (over 1.8 GW) and the Dolna Odra Power Plant (over 0.9 GW). PGE owns Europe's largest lignite-fired power plant - the Bełchatów power plant (with an installed capacity of over 5 GW at the end of 2019) and the Turów lignite-fired power plant (with a capacity of 2059 MW).
PGE allocated over 90% of its investments in 2009-2016 to the maintenance and construction of power units based on hard coal and lignite combustion. The company also plans to continue production at the Turów open pit until 2044.
PGE's PLN 4.1 billion corporate loans in September 2018 were provided by Bank Santander Polska, MUFG, Intesa SanPaolo and PKO BP.
The majority of power plants and coal mines owned by PGE are insured by Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń Wzajemnych PZU PZUW.
PGE-owned facilities, in 2019, ranked as the third most polluting company on the European continent in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study prepared by the European Commission.
In 2019, PGE emitted 60.66 million tons of CO2. In 2020, PGE's CO2 emissions were 59,518,765 tons CO2eq [4]. In 2021, PGE Group's CO2 emissions are expected to increase, as PGE emitted almost 34 million tons of CO2 in the first six months of 2021 alone.
PGE AND TURÓW
At the end of April 2020, PGE launched an aggressive campaign, “Green Deal, not wild transformation." A number of sponsored articles were bought in Polish and foreign press, and billboards appeared in Brussels. On its website, the company explained that it wanted to attract the attention of politicians in Brussels. However, the information she provided to the campaign is false. More on this topic: PGE manipulates data about Turów. Get the facts.
Despite the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 21.05.2021 ordering the immediate suspension of extraction from the Turów open cast mine, the mine in Bogatynia owned by PGE was not temporarily discontinued. On 20.09.2021, the CJEU, in another decision, imposed a 500,000 euro daily penalty on Poland for non-compliance with the order of 21.05.2021.
PGE's arrogance and lack of a plan to amicably resolve the tensions caused by the continued uninterrupted operation of the mine cost Polish taxpayers nearly PLN 70 million per month. At the same time, PGE receives fees from winning the power auction for PGE's work, also paid for by the taxes of all Poles. It is also exempt from charges for lowering groundwater levels, the pumping of which is necessary to maintain mining.
Appeals:
- PGE management report for the first half of 2021, page 49.
- PGE Management Report 2020, page 52.
- PGE Management Board report for 1st half of 2021 page 40.
- PGE Management's Report for 2020 page 32.
