A cooling tower of the Turow coal-fired power plant is seen near the Turow opencast coal mine operated by the PGE company in Bogatynia, Poland June 15, 2021. Picture taken June 15, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny

WARSAW, April 11 (Reuters) – Poland’s biggest utility, PGE (PGE.WA), has held talks with policymakers in other EU countries to try to contain the cost of labor market reforms. carbon that he says would hamper his efforts to switch from coal to cleaner. fuel.

Europe’s emissions trading scheme (ETS), which forces power plants and other large emitters to buy permits to cover their carbon emissions, has long drawn opposition in coal-dependent Poland, the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, at more than 70% of its power.

The cost of hedging these emissions has risen as carbon prices hit record highs earlier this year of nearly 100 euros ($109) per tonne, adding to concerns about high fuel costs. energy that could complicate EU negotiations on further carbon market reforms.

PGE CEO Wojciech Dabrowski told a press conference he was aware suspending the ETS was “politically impossible”.

But, while other countries are also reeling from the shock of energy costs, PGE spoke to Dutch, French and German members of the European Parliament to obtain support for efforts to limit the rise in oil prices. carbon.

There is already a mechanism that allows the release of additional permits if the price of CO2 is more than three times higher than the average price of the previous two years for at least six months, and if the decision makers conclude that this does not reflect market fundamentals. .

Dabrowski said Poland was looking for a more flexible way to increase the supply of permits at lower prices, although he did not specify what price level Poland considered acceptable.

To reduce its dependence on coal, PGE aims to add 3.5 gigawatts of wind capacity by 2030, which the company says would be unaffordable if budgets are strained by high carbon costs.

“Today the European Union is putting too much pressure…on companies like ours, de facto hampering our transformation and not supporting our investments,” PGE Deputy Director Wanda Buk said during the interview. of the same press conference.

($1 = 0.9184 euros)

Reporting by Anna Koper; Editing by Barbara Lewis

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