The New IPPC Directive: A Threat to the Polish Power Sector

Implementation of the directive on industrial emissions will radically change the status quo in the national power sector, especially the heating sector. The amendment of the integrated pollution prevention and control directive introduces significant changes to the legal conditions in the scope of permissible standards of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust emissions. As coal is the basic fuel applied in the electricity and heat generation technologies of the national power industry, the change of the directive provisions will be particularly sensible in Poland. The Directive clearly points to the use of clean coal technology—efficient desulphurisation, denitrogenation, and particulate removal from exhaust gases—if not a wholesale rejection of coal in favor of other sources such as gas, biomass, and municipal waste. The implementation of the proposed provisions of the industrial emission directive in Poland in 2016 will significantly reduce the production capabilities of the heat and power generators. In result, the national energy security will probably be endangered.