A power plant divides Germany's neighbors - for Poland's coal it's "getting tighter"

Created: 03/07/2022Updated: 03/07/2022 18:22

By: Aleksandra Fedorska

Smoke rises from the chimneys of the lignite mine in Turow.

© Petr David Josek/AP/dpa/archive image

The Czech Republic and Poland have agreed on a compromise in the conflict over the Turów coal-fired power plant.

But the dispute over energy and environmental protection does not end there.

Turow/Liberec - In the border triangle between Saxony, the Czech Republic and Poland*.

a polarizing conflict smolders.

One that has not yet been resolved.

A compromise could now cost 45 million euros.

But will it also eliminate the serious environmental problems between Lusatia, Lower Silesia and Northern Bohemia?

That remains open for the time being.

Opencast mining in Turow: environmental conflict between Lusatia, Lower Silesia and Northern Bohemia

A look back: On February 3rd, an agreement was reached between the Czech Republic and Poland on opencast mining in Turów.

After difficult and long negotiations.

The result: the Polish state pays the Czech Republic compensation of 35 million euros.

In addition, the Polish PGE Foundation, the operating company of the power plant, has agreed to pay a further ten million euros to the Liberec region.

The Czech side then withdrew its complaint before the European Court of Justice (ECJ)*.

A week-long struggle lay behind the parties:

The Czech Republic filed the lawsuit in February 2021 and on May 20 the ECJ ordered the open-cast mine to be stopped for the time being in order to examine the lawsuit.

Polish energy and foreign policy experts became aware of the conflict.

Their conclusion: Many of the environmental policy problems could have been solved in 2020.

For example, anti-air pollution and anti-noise devices could have been installed by Polish operators.

And the groundwater problem in the region around the huge opencast mine* could have been countered with structural partitions.

Including joint monitoring.

Nothing happened for a long time, although citizens in the border triangle showed concern.

PGW coal-fired power plant in Turow: Discussions in the border triangle between Saxony, Poland and Saxony

On top of that.

The Polish ambassador to the Czech Republic, Mirosław Jasiński, even had to leave because of critical statements about the Turow opencast mine.

In a conversation with

, he referred to the irresponsibility of the Polish operators and authorities.

"There was a lack of empathy, understanding and a lack of willingness to engage in dialogue - especially on the Polish side," Jasiński explained at the time.

The Polish government continues to try to sell the negotiations with the Czech Republic as a success.

A statement from Warsaw said that the company had shown itself to be inflexible and had made it possible for the power plant and the open-cast mine to continue operating.

There was a lack of empathy, understanding and willingness to engage in dialogue.

Mirosław Jasiński, ex-Ambassador of Poland to the Czech Republic

This was followed by a political attack on the opposition, which had called for the mine to be closed following the ECJ order.

The ruling PiS is now trying to at least get closer to the new Czech government around Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

The PiS had previously criticized former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš for allegedly rejecting an agreement in order to capitalize on it in the election campaign.

Babiš lost that election campaign last December.

Now, according to reports, there should be more intersections again.

Especially in terms of nuclear power and diversification of gas supplies.

The Czech Republic has already announced that it is aiming for a stake in the Polish LNG terminal in Świnoujście.

This means that both Prague and Warsaw could obtain gas from Qatar, the USA or Norway via the world markets.

In the dispute over Russian energy supplies*, LNG is not only an important issue for the Czech Republic.

Coal-fired power plant in Turow: the Czech Republic is driving the phase-out of coal - Poland is not

However, there is still potential for conflict when it comes to coal.

The Czech Republic recently postponed the planned phase-out of coal to 2033.

A comparison: If Bavaria's Markus Söder (CSU) has his way, he should come to Germany in 2030.

Poland, on the other hand, is apparently taking its time with a perspective.

"It's getting tighter for the Polish coal industry, the switch to clean energies is inevitable," says Piotr Rudyszyn from the Polish think tank

.

The expert, who himself lives in Lusatia near Görlitz, emphasizes that "Poland must build sustainable and good relations with its neighbors".

"The Czechs took advantage of the failures of the Polish state and the overconfidence of one of the largest state-owned companies in Poland in the Turów case," he says.

In the video: early exit from coal?

Economics Minister Robert Habeck names the requirements

Rudyszyn advises that Poland should give more thought to the form of phasing out coal in the future and look for positive examples from the neighborhood: “As a resident of the border region, I would like the coal phase-out to take place taking into account the inhabitants of this region and the transition of energy sources , as it is carried out in Germany, for example in Lusatia.”

The exit from coal in the border triangle of Lusatia, Lower Silesia and North Bohemia - it remains a controversial topic.