As noted during the opening of the Congress, the event is an opportunity to discuss solid fuels in the context of the climate policy. - Our mining sector rarely comes together, cooperating and exchanging experiences and technical ideas. But this is beginning to bear fruit, showing the modern Polish mining industry – said Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Vice-Minister of Energy during the Congress opening. – The mining industry must be permanently associated with innovation; we must develop new solutions, increase digitization and automation in our mines. This is the only response to the challenges before the mining sector.
This was one of the subjects of the discussion held during the panel entitled “Mining sector as an element of the energy production chain” with the participation of presidents of all the major mining and energy companies: Polska Grupa Górnicza, Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa, Węglokoks, LW Bogdanka and Tauron Polska Energia. One of the key subjects was the energy security of the state where the use of domestic resources was emphasized as one of the pillars. - There is no alternative: we must maintain the coal-based energy sector and economy – said Krzysztof Tchórzewski, the Minister of Energy, during the Congress held in Katowice.
It was also noted that, with more than 80 thousand employees, the mining industry was an important employer. The mining sector naturally generates additional jobs in cooperating companies and science and research centers that provide services to companies in the energy sector. - Polish energy sector is the cheapest in the European Union because it is based on the cheapest resource. From the Polish point of view, you cannot disregard the fact that coal was and still is the cheapest fuel there is – said Paweł Bogacz, PhD, from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. He added: - This is the potential, the strength and the value that cannot be overestimated. Also, coal is a stable resource.
Coking coal, which is the main product of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa, plays an important role in this respect. – Our coal was entered in the list of critical raw materials of the European Union. JSW satisfies 20 percent of the demand for this raw material in the EU states, but by 2030 we want to increase production and reach 18 million tons of annual production – said Daniel Ozon, President of the Management Board of JSW SA, during the discussion. - We are currently holding talks on the possibility of acquiring the Dębieńsko and Jan Karski mines. We must remember that coking coal is required even for the production of electric vehicles or wind towers, because without coking coal there will be no steel.
Energy24 participants also discussed the development of clean coal technologies. They include, among others, coal gasification and production of alternative fuels. The leader in this respect is JSW, which intends to separate hydrogen from coke oven gas, to be used as fuel for hydrogen cells, for example in city buses.
