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Home › Companies
Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE)Poland
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On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date

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By: BankTrack
Created before Nov 2016
Last update: 2021-06-29 00:00:00

Contact:

climate@banktrack.org


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PGE headquarters in Warsaw. Photo: Adrian Grycuk via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 pl)
Sector Coal Electric Power Generation, Biomass Electric Power Generation, Coal Mining, Nuclear Electric Power Generation
Headquarters
Ownership
listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange

PGE is a majority state-owned company with the Polish State Treasury holding 57.39% of the shares. PGE's complete shareholder structure can be accessed here.

Subsidiaries
Website http://www.pge.com

About Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE)

PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna, the parent company of the PGE Capital Group, is the largest producer of electricity and heat in Poland. As of 2019, the company has a 39% market share in energy generation. Its generation is 96% fossil fuel-based. PGE owns a series of conventional power plants, including the lignite-fired Turow power plant and Europe’s single biggest CO2 emitter: the Belchatów power plant. The company owns two large lignite mines where 43 million tonnes per year of lignite is mined. In total, PGE accounts for approximately 87% of Poland's lignite extraction. Besides lignite, PGE uses hard coal, gas and biomass in its generation processes.

Latest developments

PGE abandons proposed Gubin-Brody lignite mine

2019-08-27 00:00:00

Legal challenge of PGE's Zloczew coal mine by Polish NGO ClientEarth

2019-03-05 00:00:00

Why this profile?

Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) is the EU's number 3 top CO2 emitter. 91% of PGE’s energy is generated from lignite and hard coal, higher than any other major European utility. The company negatively impacts the environment, human health and climate change due to its coal-fired energy generation and coal mining extraction. PGE is tracked as part of the Europe Beyond Coal campaign. PGE targets to phase out its coal-fired power station fleet by 2040-2045. 

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

Polska Grupa Energetycza (PGE) is largely fossil-fuel based, with coal as its core source of energy. The company's hard coal and lignite plants accounted for 89% of its total generation. The use of coal-fired power plants negatively impacts human health, the environment and climate change. Coal-fired energy generation causes air pollution, which can affect people's health. Health issues that arise are illnesses (like bronchitis and asthma), but they can also result in premature deaths. Due to the health impacts of coal, considerable costs are created as well. In 2016, the total modelled premature deaths due to the air pollution caused by PGE’s operational coal power plants were 1,179 (median) people. The costs of health impact were estimated at EUR 1.789 billion. These costs are not covered by the coal sector, but are borne by society.

According to a 2016 report, Polish coal plants cause the most health damage in the EU and have caused 5,800 premature deaths across the EU. Of these deaths, 1,100 occurred in Poland. Moreover, the most damaging plant to human health in the EU, the coal power plant Belchatow, is owned by PGE.

PGE is targeting phasing out its coal-fired power station fleet by 2040-2045.

Environmental and climate impacts

As mentioned, coal pollution also negatively affects the climate. Coal-fired power generation processes emit greenhouse gases and therewith directly contribute to climate change. About two-thirds of PGE’s investments are still in hard coal and lignite and as recently as 2016 PGE acquired EDF’s coal assets, adding 3.3 GW of coal capacity. 

As reported in Europe's Dark Cloud, Polish coal plants are the worst CO2 emitters of the EU. Unsurprisingly, Poland is struggling to meet the European air pollution requirements. The worst CO2 emitter of the EU is the lignite-fired plant, Belchatow, which is owned by PGE. This plant emitted almost 38 milion tonnes of CO2 in 2017.

As reported by IEEFA, PGE is facing enormous pressure regarding the stricter standards on air pollution that will come into effect in 2021. The company is majority state-owned, and the Polish government is backing the use of coal. However, as market forces are shifting, the government is now facing economic pressures.
 

Governance

Bank policies

The following bank investment policies apply to this project:
BNP Paribas
csr policies
2020-07-01 00:00:00

Coal-fired power generation - sector policy

2020-07-01 00:00:00 | BNP Paribas
csr policies
2020-07-22 00:00:00

Coal mining - sector policy

2020-07-22 00:00:00 | BNP Paribas
Citi
csr policies
2017-12-31 00:00:00

Energy & Power Sector Framework

2017-12-31 00:00:00 | Citi
csr policies
2022-03-01 00:00:00

Environmental and Social Policy Framework

2022-03-01 00:00:00 | Citi
Credit Suisse
csr policies
2021-11-04 00:00:00

Summary of sector policies and guidelines

2021-11-04 00:00:00 | Credit Suisse
Goldman Sachs
csr policies
2022-01-25 00:00:00

Sector Guidelines: General Industries, Agriculture/Soft Commodities, Metals & Mining, Oil & Gas, Power Generation

Date listed represents date as accessed on website
2022-01-25 00:00:00 | Goldman Sachs
csr policies
2020-02-11 00:00:00

Environmental policy framework

2020-02-11 00:00:00 | Goldman Sachs
HSBC
csr policies
2020-02-15 00:00:00

Minings & metals policy

2020-02-15 00:00:00 | HSBC
csr policies
2021-12-14 00:00:00

Thermal Coal Phase-Out Policy

2021-12-14 00:00:00 | HSBC
ING
csr policies
2021-06-30 00:00:00

Environmental and social risk framework

2021-06-30 00:00:00 | ING
JPMorgan Chase
csr policies
2011-04-06 00:00:00

Environmental and social risk assessment policy

2011-04-06 00:00:00 | JP Morgan Chase
csr policies
2021-10-08 00:00:00

Environmental and social policy framework

2021-10-08 00:00:00 | JPMorgan Chase
KBC
csr policies
2018-06-30 00:00:00

Mining policy

2018-06-30 00:00:00 | KBC Group
Nordea
csr policies
2020-09-01 00:00:00

Sector Guideline for the Mining Industry

2020-09-01 00:00:00 | Nordea
Banco Santander
csr policies
2022-03-31 00:00:00

Environmental, social & climate change risk management policy

2022-03-31 00:00:00 | Banco Santander
Société Générale
csr policies
2020-07-01 00:00:00

Press release: sector policy on coal power

2020-07-01 00:00:00 | Société Générale
csr policies
2020-07-31 00:00:00

Thermal coal sector policy

2020-07-31 00:00:00 | Société Générale
csr policies
2021-11-30 00:00:00

Thermal power sector policy

2021-11-30 00:00:00 | Société Générale
UniCredit
csr policies
2014-05-06 00:00:00

Position statement concerning the mining industry

2014-05-06 00:00:00 | UniCredit
csr policies
2022-01-31 00:00:00

Coal Sector Policy

2022-01-31 00:00:00 | UniCredit
Deutsche Bank
csr policies
2016-06-09 00:00:00

Position on Coal and mountaintop removal

2016-06-09 00:00:00 | Deutsche Bank
csr policies
2020-07-27 00:00:00

Environmental and Social Policy Framework

2020-07-27 00:00:00 | Deutsche Bank
Banco Espirito Santo
csr policies
2008-01-01 00:00:00

Energy and Climate policy

2008-01-01 00:00:00 | BES
PKO Bank Polski
csr policies
2021-02-25 00:00:00

ESG risks policy

Date listed represents date as accessed on website
2021-02-25 00:00:00 | PKO Bank Polski
csr policies
2022-02-25 00:00:00

Environmental responsibility - incl. sector policies

2022-02-25 00:00:00 | PKO Bank Polski
Commerzbank
csr policies
2016-07-22 00:00:00

Updated position on coal

2016-07-22 00:00:00 | Commerzbank
Intesa Sanpaolo
csr policies
2014-01-01 00:00:00

Rules for the environmental and energy policy

2014-01-01 00:00:00 | Intesa Sanpaolo
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)
csr policies
2022-04-01 00:00:00

Revision of the MUFG Environmental and Social Policy Framework

2022-04-01 00:00:00 | MUFG

Updates

PGE abandons proposed Gubin-Brody lignite mine

2019-08-27 00:00:00

Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) has abandoned plans for the proposed Gubin-Brody lignite mine after a decade-long campaign against the project by local residents and Greenpeace Poland. The proposed open-cut lignite mine would have displaced up to 3,000 people and destroyed 15 villages and agricultural land. In a referendum in 2009 a majority of voters opposed the project while over 7,000 people attended an August 2014 rally against the plan. In 2016 environmental regulators found major deficiencies in the company’s environment assessment and allowed up to three years for the deficiencies to be addressed. At the expiry of the three years, the Regional Director for Environmental Protection announced the application for the project has lapsed.

Legal challenge of PGE's Zloczew coal mine by Polish NGO ClientEarth

2019-03-05 00:00:00

Approval for a huge new coal mine that would leave 3,000 people in search of new homes is being challenged by ClientEarth’s lawyers in Poland. The Zloczew open-cast mine would be Poland’s deepest ever and, for the first time, use explosives to access the lignite (the dirtiest form of coal) beneath the surface. This project of state-owned energy company PGE, would result in the displacement and destruction of 33 villages, including highly specialised modern farms, homes, schools, shops, chapels and fire stations.

PGE signs EUR 950 million credit facility

2018-09-17 00:00:00

In September 2018 PGE signed a EUR 950 million loan agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo, MUFG, Banco Santander and PKO Bank.

Financiers

PGE finances include debt finance in the form of bonds and loans from commercial banks and development banks EBRD and EIB. PGE lists its most important available financing here; financial institutions involved are listed below.

Dated February 2020, the following banks held shares and/or bonds in PGE: Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, UBS, DZ Bank, BNP Paribas, Santander, HSBC, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Credit Suisse, KBC, PKO Bank Polski and Bank Pekao. For more details see Annex II on page 36-39 of the Fool's Gold report 2020.

In September 2018 PGE signed a EUR 950 million loan agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo, MUFG, Banco Santander and PKO Bank.

From 2014-2017, nine financial institutions loaned a total of USD 1.875 billion and provided underwriting services totalling USD 1.733 billion to PGE. These are specified below.

 

Related projects

Projects

There are no projects active for Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) now.
on record

Złoczew lignite open-pit mine Poland

Coal Mining
on record

Rybnik coal power plant Poland

Coal Electric Power Generation
on record

Turów coal power plant Poland

Coal Electric Power Generation

News

| |
Type:
Year:
blog
external news
our news

Greenpeace vs PGE: będzie kolejna rozprawa

2022-05-18 | Greenpeace
blog
external news
our news

Top 10 EU emitters all coal power plants in 2021

2022-04-08 | Ember-climate.org
blog
external news
our news

Subvertising stunt sees spoof Santander ads in Glasgow bus stops, two days before COP26 begins in the host city

2021-10-29 | Glasgow | BankTrack, Subvertisers
blog
external news
our news

Spoof Santander posters appear across Glasgow ahead of COP26

Spoof Santander posters have been appearing across Glasgow in an effort by climate campaigners to highlight the bank's funding of fossil fuels ahead of COP26.
2021-10-29 | Glasgow | The National
blog
external news
our news

Poland's PGE expects coal assets carveout to be completed in 2022

2021-09-29 | Warsaw | Reuters
blog
external news
our news

Announcement of Belchatow coal plant closure is turning point for health

2021-06-10 | HEAL
blog
external news
our news

Poland's Lodz Region publishes draft plans to close massive Belchatow power plant by 2036

2021-06-08 | Euronews
blog
external news
our news

One year of illegal mining in Turow, Letter to the European Commission

2021-04-29 | European Environmental Bureau
blog
external news
our news

Poland should scrap coal and energy plan, environmentalists say

2020-11-25 | Reuters
blog
external news
our news

NGOs release the 2020 Global Coal Exit List

935 companies that banks, investors and insurers need to avoid
2020-11-12 | Berlin | urgewald
blog
external news
our news

Give us back our water and homes: communities stand up to greedy coal

2020-09-25 | Germany, Poland
blog
external news
our news

EU’s biggest coal plant must negotiate closure with environmental lawyers, court decides

2020-09-23 | Client Earth
blog
external news
our news

Campaigners urge Santander to set ambitious timetable for fossil fuel exit ahead of AGM

2020-04-02 | Nijmegen | BankTrack, Ecologistas en Accion, Foundation “Development YES - Open-Pit Mines NO”, IIDMA
blog
external news
our news

Poland close to scrapping Zloczew brown coal mine project

2019-12-18 | Reuters
blog
external news
our news

Santander criticised for investments in Polish coal expansion

2019-10-17 | Environmental Finance
blog
external news
our news

Santander criticised for investments in Polish coal expansion

2019-10-17 | Environmental Finance
blog
external news
our news

How long will Santander continue to profit from Polish coal expansion?

The Spanish bank's use of ‘ESG loans’ for companies with fossil fuel expansion plans is part of a dangerous new trend
2019-10-16 | Greig Aitken – BankTrack, Kuba Gogolewski – Development YES Open-Pit Mines NO
blog
external news
our news

IEEFA update: Poland’s PGE should ditch plans for new lignite mine

2019-10-08 | IEEFA
blog
external news
our news

European utilities at risk from Credit Agricole’s new 2030 coal exit stance

2019-06-07 | IEEFA
blog
external news
our news

Fool’s Gold – €16bn for Europe’s biggest climate polluters

2019-05-21 | Berlin | Europe Beyond Coal
blog
external news
our news

Santander’s deep support for fossil fuel industry challenged at bank’s AGM

2019-04-12 | Santander, Spain | BankTrack, Foundation “Development YES - Open-Pit Mines NO”
blog
external news
our news

Banks be warned – Poland’s PGE wants to blow the house and the climate on coal expansion extravaganza

Latest distress signal from new financial results another reason for potential financiers to walk away
2019-03-14 | Warsaw, Poland | Kuba Gogolewski – Development YES Open-Pit Mines NO
blog
external news
our news

Legal challenge to massive Polish coal mine

2019-03-05 | The Ecologist
blog
external news
our news

Financial institutions’ tightening coal policies pressure utilities to change

2019-02-26 | Kaarina Kolle – Europe Beyond Coal
blog
external news
our news

IEEFA Europe: PGE’s pro-coal strategy in Poland under fire

2018-12-21 | IEEFA
blog
external news
our news

Santander move on coal finance welcome but ‘far from enough’ to address its climate impacts, say groups

2018-12-13 | Madrid, Spain | BankTrack, Ecologistas en Accion, IIDMA
blog
external news
our news

Major new coal support loan for Poland's PGE, international bank consortium slammed

2018-09-20 | Warsaw, Poland | BankTrack, Foundation Development YES Open-Pit Mines NO, ReCommon, Sandbag
blog
external news
our news

PGE Press release: signing of the loan agreement

2018-09-17 | PGE
blog
external news
our news

Poland's pro-coal government goes green

2018-09-05 | Deutsche Welle
blog
external news
our news

Answers to PGE shareholders at PGE annual meeting

(in Polish)
2018-07-19 | Tuinwestor.pl
blog
external news
our news

IEEFA Europe: As risks mount, Poland’s PGE struggles to break from its fossil fuel past

Utility company’s actions contradict its stated intent to change
2018-06-14 | Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
blog
external news
our news

IEEFA report: Poland’s biggest utility is risking financial instability by doubling down on coal-fired generation

2018-06-12 | Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
blog
external news
our news

Exclusive: PGE picks Baltic wind over nuclear as Poland embraces green power

2018-05-10 | Reuters
blog
external news
our news

Commerzbank tolerates financing of the coal energy sector in Poland

2018-05-09 | Poland | Ecological Association Eko-Unia
blog
external news
our news

Even Europe's Coal Addict Wants to Get Clean

At the birthplace of Poland’s uprising against communism, work is under way on another revolution.
2018-04-27 | Bloomberg
blog
external news
our news

PGE bets on lignite (coverage)

2017-08-14 | Biznes Alert
blog
external news
our news

New database reveals world’s biggest coal plant developers

120 companies paving the road towards climate chaos
2017-06-29 | Berlin | urgewald
blog
external news
our news

Climate Finance Day: BNP Paribas failing to respect coal finance commitments

One year after COP21, French bank has still not excluded Polish coal company PGE from client list
2016-11-03 | Paris, France | BankTrack, Fair Finance France, Foundation Development YES Open-Pit Mines NO, Les Amis de la Terre
blog
external news
our news

BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and ING invest €1.34 billion in coal

FairFin, Climaxi and BankTrack ask for green investments
2014-06-03 | Brussels | FairFin

Documents

Type:
Year:
our publications
2020-07-15 00:00:00

Fool's Gold

The financial institutions risking our renewable energy future with coal
2020-07-15 00:00:00 | Europe Beyond Coal, BankTrack, BlackRock’s Big Problem, Ember, Fundacja "Rozwój TAK - Odkrywki NIE”, Friends of the Earth Finland, Friends of the Earth France, Greenpeace, Reclaim Finance, Re:Common, ShareAction, Urgewald, 350 Japan
ngo documents
2020-06-22 00:00:00

PGE - A briefing for investors, insurers and banks

2020-06-22 00:00:00 | Europe Beyond Coal
other documents
2019-10-08 00:00:00

To embrace a profitable energy future, Poland’s PGE must abandon plans for a new lignite mine

2019-10-08 00:00:00 | IEEFA
ngo documents
2019-05-21 00:00:00

Fool's Gold

The financial institutions bankrolling Europe’s most coal-dependent utilities
2019-05-21 00:00:00 | Europe Beyond Coal
annual reports
2019-04-30 00:00:00

Annual report 2018

2019-04-30 00:00:00 | PGE
ngo documents
2018-12-31 00:00:00

PGE - A briefing for investors, insurers and banks

2018-12-31 00:00:00 | Europe Beyond Coal
ngo documents
2018-09-30 00:00:00

PGE case study

2018-09-30 00:00:00 | Greenpeace, CEE Bankwatch Network
ngo documents
2018-11-20 00:00:00

Last Gasp - The coal companies making Europe sick

2018-11-20 00:00:00 | Climate Action Network Europe
other documents
2018-09-17 00:00:00

European Coal Plant Database

2018-09-17 00:00:00 | Europe Beyond Coal
ngo documents
2016-06-10 00:00:00

Europe's Dark Cloud

How Coal-Burning Countries Are Making Their Neighbours Sick
2016-06-10 00:00:00 | Sandbag, Health and Environment Alliance, Greenpeace, Climate Action Network, WWF European Policy Office
company documents
2017-12-31 00:00:00

Report on non-financial data of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. and PGE Group for 2017

2017-12-31 00:00:00 | PGE
company documents
2017-12-31 00:00:00

PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. Separate financial statements for 2017

2017-12-31 00:00:00 | PGE
other documents
2018-06-30 00:00:00

Decision Time at Poland’s PGE

Why a High - Risk, Fossil - Heavy Strategy Doesn’t Add Up
2018-06-30 00:00:00 | IEEFA
company documents
2009-05-11 00:00:00

The electricity market leader in Poland

2009-05-11 00:00:00 | PGE

Links

Europe Beyond Coal campaign website

https://beyond-coal.eu/

Fossil Free EIB campaign website

http://fossilfree-eib.eu/resources/case-studies/the-polish-coal-utility-pge/

ClientEarth website

https://www.clientearth.org/
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