News

Coal-intensive Poland announces CCS project

Publish date: January 14, 2010

Written by: Veronica Webster

BELCHATOW, Poland – Polish utility company PGE has decided that it will build a lignite-fired unit using CO2 capture and storage (CCS) at the Belchatow power plant. PGE will receive €180 million funding from the EU Economic Recovery Package (EERP).

The 4450 megawatts (MW) Belchatow power station is the biggest emitter of CO2 in the EU and covers 15 percent of the total electricity supply in Poland. About 260MW of the new 858 MW bloc will be equipped with CCS and will begin to operate before the end of 2015.  

It is expected that the project will store over 2.1 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
This is a significant amount, but still small in relation to the plant’s total 2008 emissions of 31 million tonnes.