Poland and Czechia settle their dispute over Turów open-pit lignite mine

Poland and Czechia have signed an agreement settling a dispute over the Polish Turów open-pit lignite mine near the Czech and German borders. The mine supplies a 1.5 GW lignite-fired power plant. Under the terms of the bilateral agreement, the mine and the power plant will continue to operate without obstacles. Poland will pay Czechia €45m compensation, €10m of which will go to environmental projects in the mine’s neighbourhood. Indeed, Poland will build a deep barrier to prevent water drainage on the Czech side and a wall to protect inhabitants of the nearest municipalities from noise, dust or light pollution. Finally, Czechia has withdrawn its complaint at the Court of Justice of the European Union. 

In May 2021, Poland authorised the state-owned energy group Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) to operate its Turów mine until 2044. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) thus ordered Poland to immediately stop lignite mining activities at Turów, following a lawsuit filed by Czechia over environmental concerns. In September 2021, the ECJ ordered Poland to pay a daily penalty of €500,000 because it has not ceased lignite extraction activities at Turów, in violation of an earlier ruling; Poland refused to pay the fine, which grew to over €68m.

In 2020, coal and lignite power plants accounted for 63% of Poland's power generation capacity (31 GW out of 49 GW), and they dominated the power mix, even if their share is steadily eroding due to the increased penetration of gas and renewables (72% in 2020, compared to 88% in 2010).