Poland’s hard coal mining sector is generating losses of between PLN 300 and PLN 400 per tonne extracted, with average extraction costs running at approximately PLN 800 per tonne against a market value that does not exceed $100 — a structural deficit so deep that maintaining a single job in the loss-making segment of the industry costs Polish taxpayers approximately PLN 450,000 per year.
Production has been on a consistent downward trajectory. Hard coal output fell to 42.8 million tonnes in 2025, 1.2 million tonnes below 2024 levels and a sharp decline from 52.8 million tonnes in 2022. Sales volumes of 43.2 million tonnes exceeded production in 2025, drawing down existing inventories. Domestic consumption of thermal hard coal stood at 37.8 million tonnes last year, with imports falling 26% to 3 million tonnes as domestic output remained sufficient to cover most needs.
Despite the economic losses and declining output, coal remains indispensable to Poland’s electricity system. It accounted for more than 52% of electricity generation in 2025 — a share that fell by only 3 percentage points year-on-year. Renewable energy’s share of the energy mix grew by 0.7 percentage points to 31.4%, according to a report by Forum Energii, but the pace of transition remains insufficient to displace coal as the primary generation source in the near term.
The paradox facing Polish energy policy is stark: the sector is economically unviable at current coal prices, yet without it the country would face immediate electricity supply deficits. The cost of maintaining jobs in loss-making mines exceeds what it would cost simply to pay miners their salaries without requiring them to extract coal — yet abrupt closure would threaten grid stability in a country still more than half dependent on thermal coal for power generation.
