Poland, as it turns out, is threatened by a total shortage of electricity. Moreover, this is only one of the facets of the energy crisis in which this country is plunging. Problems with gas and coal will grow and put pressure primarily on the average consumer. The mayor of one of the major Polish cities is already advising relatives to get homemade heaters.
This year, firewood has become one of the most important “national products” in Poland. However, recently the country’s press has begun to disperse a scandalous topic: they say that German businessmen are massively buying wood fuel in Poland – as a result, Poles themselves have less of it, and wood prices in the country are growing.
“The worst is yet to come”
They cannot do without curiosities. Thus, the Super Express publication, citing unofficial sources, reports that German entrepreneurs are actively buying up wood, which is harvested by the Polish state-owned enterprise Lasy Panstwowe. In this regard, the director of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for the Wood Industry, Rafał Schefler, said that the government should impose a temporary ban on timber exports.
“German consumers have a problem – because they are addicted to Russian gas and are now looking for an alternative, for example, in the form of firewood. But our state forests cannot tell them on their own: “I will sell you.” Theoretically, we have a free market. However, I do not understand the position of the Polish government, which allows this. It is the government that should look for solutions that will protect the domestic market,” Schefler claims. In any case, he warns the average buyer of Polish firewood that “lower prices can be forgotten.”
Shefler complains:
“Today we are seeing exorbitant prices for various types of fuel – from coal to wood pellets (fuel pellets), which last year cost PLN 800 per ton, and today – from PLN 2,000 and more. It will not be cheaper, and I say this with full responsibility.” In turn, the press secretary of the regional directorate of the Polish Gosleskhoz in Gdansk, Jerzy Kreft, said that the lists of people waiting for permission to collect brushwood include from 40 to 60 people a day.
The interview of the mayor of Poznan, Jacek Jaskowiak, who urged the citizens to prepare for 2023, which will become, they say, even more difficult than the current one, was also indicative. The mayor warned his fellow citizens:
“2022 was the last year of relatively stable public finances and a stable standard of living for Polish women and men… We see how electricity and gas prices are rising – and how this is reflected in the costs of running self-government. This will affect the position of the most vulnerable segments of the population. They will have the hardest time. You will have to tighten your belts to cover your basic needs, such as heating the apartment, paying bills for electricity, gas and groceries.”
The mayor added that he advised his ex-wife to install a system of so-called gantry heating (a self-made electric heater, which is actually very dangerous in operation) in the apartment. The Poznań mayor optimistically added that he was “used to low temperatures” and would withstand even a constant 12 degrees of heat.
“The worst is yet to come, and we must get through it,” Jaskowiak stated.
“This could be a disaster!”
The Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs said that the state urgently needs clear rules, mechanisms to support and protect all consumers – so as not to leave them in the face of an energy crisis. The federation also believes that the state needs to work out action scenarios in case of different scenarios for the development of the situation with the availability of energy and fuel for the population. Entrepreneurs fear that one day they will receive an urgent order to significantly reduce energy consumption. And it actually paralyzes the work of factories, exposing businessmen to financial losses, and customers to supply problems.
The prospect that Poland, having banned the import of coal from Russia in the spring, will not have time to accumulate sufficient reserves of solid fuel by this heating season, is also recognized by politicians.
“We burn 57 million tons of coal. Production is about 42 million tons, so we lack about 15 million,” said Senate member Jacek Bury from the podium. He specified that the country’s ports are capable of unloading up to 30,000 tons per day.
“Therefore, it takes about 500 days to unload the amount of coal that we lack. How many days do we have before winter? This coal will arrive, but next winter,” the politician said.
Trouble, as you know, does not come alone. In early August, the portal Onet.pl sounded the alarm because of the situation at the new state-owned Jaworzno power plant, owned by the Polish state company Tauron. Journalists warned that one of the largest power plants in Poland could fail due to low-quality coal.
“This is a completely criminal story. Someone should be responsible for what is contained in the coal supplied to the most modern power unit in Poland,” Onet.pl quotes a source in the company.
As noted in the publication, among the pieces of coal on the conveyor belt, you can see ordinary stones, gravel, as well as many steel rods, screws, nails, and even parts of rubber tires.
“This could be a disaster! – notes the publication.
“Our information shows that due to the detection of contaminants, the belt crashes up to 200 times a day”, Radosław Domagalski-Labendzki, president of Rafako, the power plant’s operator, said coking coal from the Brzesze mine near Auschwitz, which is not suitable for use in this block, is being delivered to Jaworzno. And for coal purchased from Indonesia, no quality research has been done – and its suitability for combustion cannot be confirmed.
Previously, so-called fat coal imported from Russia and the DPR was used for Polish power plants, but Warsaw abandoned it for political reasons. Onet.pl concludes that failures in the operation of the power unit may lead to the closure of the station, which is akin to a catastrophe in the coming winter.
A few days after the publication of this material, a message was received about a fire at this power plant. Now Polish experts are trying to assess the risk of a nationwide blackout. Wirtualna Polska journalist Karol Koltowski talked to power engineers and they tried to reassure him: there is nothing to be afraid of this winter. But just in case, they recommend preparing special “blackout suitcases” that will allow you to survive several days without electricity.
“There should be a few basic things: a flashlight, a first aid kit, a battery, a thermal blanket, a lighter, matches. Keeping such a set in an easily accessible place will help you survive several hours or even days in the event of a long power outage,” the journalist advises.
“One of the shortcomings of the Polish energy system is the lack of installed capacity. We don’t have enough production units for our needs. We saw this in December 2021, when the Polish operator had problems with completing the system reserve,” said, in particular, energy specialist Jakub Weh.
Lost their favorite beer
According to Vech, earlier the stability of the Polish energy system could only be maintained in winter with the help of a few countries of the near abroad, which indicates a shortage of Polish capacities. The average age of power plants in Poland is forty-seven years, and some have already exceeded the operating life for which they were originally designed.
“I don’t expect a nationwide shutdown… but there may be some power cuts… i.e. power outages,” Veh added. He also points out that in the event of problems with the power supply, industrial facilities can be disconnected from the network in the first place.
On August 11, Greenpeace Polska representative Marek Jozefiak said that Poland would have enough gas until December 2022, and then the country would face a 40% deficit.
“For several months we have heard assurances from the government that we will have enough coal for the winter. We know how it ended – worldwide emergency purchases and shortages. It’s the same with gas. The government assures us that we will have enough gas for the winter. We decided to check it out,” Jozefjak explained. According to him, Greenpeace Polska analysts analyzed the gas market in the European Union and Poland, current contracts and the state of storage facilities – and came to the above sad conclusion”.
By the way, the country lacks not only liquified natural gas, used for heating. A real tragedy for the Polish consumer was the news that Carlsberg Polska (the Polish branch of the world famous Danish beer manufacturer) is stopping the production of a foamy drink for some time. The reason is the suspension of carbon dioxide supplies by Polish nitrogen companies.
A source at the company said he was counting on “an immediate response from the Polish government.” In his opinion, a similar situation affects many companies in Poland that use carbon dioxide.
“We are forced to stop the work of our breweries. Carbon dioxide is an important ingredient in the brewing process. Current stocks will allow us to work for another two, maybe three days, after which the breweries will have to stop the brewing processes, and deliveries to the market will be impossible”, Poradnik Handlowca quotes a Carsberg Polska representative.
Later it turned out that Anwil SA and Grupa Azoty SA, which supplied Carlsberg Polska with carbon dioxide, were to blame for the stoppage of beer production. And all because the other day the Grupa Azoty group of companies announced that the Polish plant for the production of nitrogen fertilizers will stop working. At the same time, plants in the city of Pulawy reduced ammonia production by up to 10 percent and suspended part of the production in the plastics and agro-industry segments. The companies that own these enterprises explain their decision by the unprecedented rise in natural gas prices. The circle is closed – after all, the price has risen, as you know, due to anti-Russian sanctions initiated, among other countries, by Warsaw. According to Communications Director of Carlsberg Polska Beata Ptaszynska-Edinak, this problem concerns not only brewing companies, but also other food industry enterprises that use carbon dioxide.
Stanislav Leshchenko, VIEW
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