New EU regulations on carbon footprint, pushed through by France, threaten Poland’s battery industry. These rules consider the national energy mix rather than individual factory agreements with green energy producers. The Tusk government officially opposes the EU proposal, but information suggests it has resigned to the fact that the directive will eventually be implemented, reports Business Insider.
We Will Pay for Coal
Poland remains a global powerhouse in electric vehicle battery production. However, exports of lithium-ion batteries fell by 43% last year to €5.9 billion, due to a downturn in the European electric vehicle market.
Meanwhile, a forecast from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence in August last year predicts that by 2030, Poland will fall out of the world’s top eight, despite currently holding second place, trailing only China. This decline is partly due to the new EU directive, which could effectively hit Poland’s battery industry and the investment plans of battery companies.
According to Business Insider, under the proposals adopted by the European Parliament, from 2025, every battery will need a certificate indicating its carbon footprint. From mid-2028, maximum CO2 emission thresholds will be introduced, with exceeding them potentially leading to a sales ban within the EU. This is a result of the French position, which prevailed in the European Commission. It won’t matter that a Pole’s carbon footprint is much lower than a German’s, as only the carbon footprint from energy production will be counted.
Will Hungary Replace Us?
The Ministry of Development and Technology states that it opposes the EC’s proposal to base the methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of electric vehicle batteries on the national energy mix, but “companies in the sector must consider the risk of increasing practical consequences of a high carbon footprint in production.”
This stance suggests that the ministry has accepted that the directive will come into force.
The returning boom in electric vehicles will likely benefit others. As Business Insider assesses, it could be countries like Hungary, where, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecasts for 2030, batteries with a capacity of 210.1 GWh per year will be produced, thanks to investments from Chinese giant CATL and Korean companies Samsung and SK On. There, only 8% of energy comes from coal, mainly lignite, while 47% comes from nuclear power.