Huge court win as we block Polish coal-fired power station

The long-contested Polnoc coal-fired power station in Poland will not be built, after a ruling today from the Polish Supreme Administrative Court.

This is the culmination of a multi-year court battle following our initial legal complaint and is a major victory for the climate but also for local residents and environmental organisations like Workshop for All Beings, who have campaigned against the project for years.

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More than 60 farmers joined the case over its duration. The judgment is a major blow for Polish coal in a time of increasing uncertainty.

Company Polenergia had planned to construct the 1.6GW coal power plant in Pelplin, Pomerania – a fertile farming region in northern Poland, near Gdansk. The original permit for the plant was issued without input from local communities, and ignored glaring environmental issues with the project.

Prompted by our original complaint, the Pomeranian regional authority cancelled the permit on that basis but the company appealed. This triggered a multi-year legal battle, escalating through Poland’s court system.

But today, Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court has issued the final decision and blocked the project once and for all.

Ilona Jedrasik, who is our Energy Lead in Poland, said: “This is a victory for all those who fought for their land and against this unjustifiable project. Coal power is harmful to nature, the climate and to people and there is no longer an economic argument in its favour."

Ilona added: “Rulings like this should be demonstrating to companies like Polenergia that the future of energy does not belong to coal.

“Private investors are cottoning on – now it’s time for state-owned companies to stop burning their money in coal investments like Ostroleka C.”