Climate minister: majority of EU states support extension for coal subsidies after 2025

The proposal would let member states prolong capacity mechanism support for coal plants by ducking CO2 emission limits, a draft document seen by Reuters showed. Ministers are expected to vote on the proposal on Monday (June 19).

Climate minister Anna Moskwa told Reuters she had done a lot of work "with all the ministers who may be our allies". "I am still optimistic about the presence of the capacity market in Monday's package, which we will vote on."

"We are not the only ones (EU countries) who need a capacity market. We need 550 (grams of CO2, limit for energy generation) for our units, but we also have a capacity market for peat, for oil, for other sources. Many European countries support this, we have built such a bloc and today this is a coalition that gives us a majority," Moskwa added.

The EU sets CO2 emission limits for capacity mechanisms, to attempt to steer countries towards supporting cleaner generation in their energy mix. The limit is 550 grams of CO2 of fossil fuel origin per kilowatt hour of electricity produced.

Poland, which relies on coal for 70% of its electricity has been pressing the European Union to allow it to keep its predominantly state-controlled mining sector running until 2049.

Plants receive state support for providing baseload power but that is set to end in 2025 when tighter EU emissions limits kick in for power plants receiving such support, putting generators out of the money.

The document said capacity mechanisms already in place before July 2019 would be allowed to dodge this limit for a limited period if certain other conditions are met.

Tonnes of dead fish were found last summer in the river that runs along part of Germany's border with Poland, prompting Warsaw to embark on a crisis response that many scientists said came too late.

A German research institute said overgrowth of toxic golden algae linked to industrial pollution was the most likely culprit behind the mass fish deaths.

In March, the Polish government launched 24-hour monitoring on the Oder, testing the water with automatic probes in nine locations. More testing stations will be added in the future, according to the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection.

"I'm convinced we've done all that could have been done. Over the past few weeks this has been the main thing we've been dealing with," said Anna Moskwa.

The minister added that residential sewage carrying nitrogen and phosphorus was the main factor behind the most recent incident of dead fish detected this month in a canal that connects Oder with the Upper Silesia, the densely populated region in southwestern Poland that is home to several coal mines.

"We'd have to disconnect all sewage treatment plants, hospitals, individual homes, and industrial plants along the rivers overnight and certainly in some crazy green narratives such suggestions are being made," she said.

A Greenpeace study earlier this year said that water salinity in the Oder's tributaries where coal mines in the region disgorge water was higher than that in the Baltic Sea, feeding growth of toxic algae. Other environmental groups have also blamed the industrial sewage waters.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Moskwa has also urged Germany to quicken Rosneft's exit from Schwedt refinery.

"It takes an awful long time, and that's something that's really not satisfying. However, there are some next steps. We did not agree on any dates, only what was a condition from the Polish side that if we were talking about a wider-scale cooperation, it was a complete withdrawal of Russian assets from Schwedt," she said

"I believe that Chancellor Habeck (German economy minister Robert Habeck) is determined and he has often proven his anti-Russian attitude and desire, but also in the practical dimension to get rid of the Russians (referring to the sale of Russian energy group Rosneft's majority stake in German Schwedt refinery). So I have a lot of faith in his determination," Moskwa added.

"I think that this determination should also be shown and proven at the pace of these works and we are waiting for it. We are de facto unable to do more from the Polish side."

"These are assets on the German side for sure, and the European Commission expects this de-Russification to take place. Certainly, this is our expectation and this gentlemen's agreement that we have still applies. We have a modern, expanding infrastructure. There is a readiness to cooperate, but without the Russians, of course," Poland's climate minister stressed.

PCK Schwedt, which has traditionally supplied 90% of the fuel used in Germany's capital Berlin, was operating at 50-60% capacity this spring after Germany stopped oil supplies from Russia due to the Ukraine war.

In December, Poland and Germany agreed to cooperate on supplying Schwedt via pipelines from the Polish port of Gdańsk, while Polish refiner PKN Orlen expressed an interest in buying the refinery.

But Warsaw made a removal of Rosneft from the refinery's ownership structure a condition for long-term oil shipments.