Solidary Poland, a Eurosceptic ally of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, has demanded that the government invest more in hard coal mines.
Having banned Russian coal due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland has been struggling to coordinate shipments of the commodity from other directions as domestic extraction is not enough to cover the country’s needs. Most Polish power plants are coal-based and many Polish homes still rely on coal for heating.
“We demand coal to become a transitory fuel,” Solidary Poland’s Michał Wójcik, who is also a government minister, said at a press conference after a government sitting on Tuesday.
According to Wojcik, his party put forward “tangible proposals for investments in coal mining.”
“We have indicated particular deposits which can be extracted,” he said.
Poland’s energy strategy adopted in 2021 assumed a significant reduction of coal use in energy production including shutting down mines by 2049. Recently, due to the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the government plans to revise the previously accepted schedule.