Selection of coal for small district-heating stations in Poland as a method of avoiding investments in flue-gas desulphurization

Poland is one of the biggest producers of hard coal in the world and uses its domestic coal for electricity and heat generation: 42 million tons for electricity and heat production in power industry, and about 8-10 million tons used by small district-heating stations annually. Changes in demand for coal, destined for heat generation, result from the changes in the forecast structure of energy carriers to be used by local heating stations and the new emission standards coming, this year, into effect in Poland. To meet the regulations, the heat generators have to keep to environmental requirements. The cheapest solution is to burn the compliance coal. The comparison of the forecasts for coal demand and supply and the possibility of adjusting quantitative and qualitative requirements of the smaller coal consumers points out that it would be possible, when the market rules, to heal the situation between coal producers and coal consumers in Poland.