MINEX Forum

Website: Europe.com

  • How a junior mining company is bringing critical materials supply back to Europe

    How a junior mining company is bringing critical materials supply back to Europe

    Historically, the European Union (EU) has relied on countries like China for its supply of critical raw materials, but companies like Leading Edge Materials are moving to shift the focus back on its own soil.

    Case in point, the EU proposed the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) in March 2023, which aims to boost supply of strategic raw materials that are crucial in advancing the EU’s move towards a sustainable, digital and sovereign future.

    This comes as a move to shift supply away from China, which currently processes almost all rare earth elements. It is estimated that the country currently produces roughly 70 per cent of global production of rare earth elements, however there are three facilities in Europe that are and will be able to produce the materials – in Sweden, France and Estonia – which will effectively reduce China’s overwhelming grip on the permanent magnet industry

  • The Kazakhstan Chamber of Mines did not agree with the resolution of five geologists

    The Kazakhstan Chamber of Mines did not agree with the resolution of five geologists

    The document stated the need to review the subsoil use reform.

    The Kazakhstan Mining Association KazNedra (Kazakh Chamber of Mines) opposed the resolution, which was presented by a small group of geologists after the capital’s congress of geological industry participants in September. This is stated in her letter to the president of the country, the leadership of parliament and government, received by inbusiness.kz.

    “On September 15, 2023, a congress of geologists of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the congress) was held in Astana, organized by the Geology Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the MPS). Members of the association also took part in the congress. Continuing the congress, a group of five geologists independently adopted a congress resolution and an appeal to the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the need to review the subsoil use reform, restore previously abolished regulatory mechanisms inherited from Soviet times, and introduce other non-market obligations. The Association states that the said resolution and appeal were not discussed at the congress and the delegates of the congress did not ask, assign or grant authority to the said geologists to draw up a resolution and appeal on behalf of the delegates of the congress,” the letter from the Chamber of Mines notes.

    She did not agree with the proposals voiced in the above-mentioned resolution and appeal, since they contradict the spirit of the current Subsoil Code.

    “The Association is firmly against these initiatives in the resolution and this appeal. The initiatives in the resolution and appeal undermine and sabotage the reform of the mining sector within the framework of the Subsoil Code, which was introduced in June 2018. The adoption of the initiatives set out in the resolution and appeal, contrary to the instructions, statements and promises of the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the practice adopted in the leading OECD countries, will radically reduce investments or make it impossible to further invest in geological exploration and production in the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the message states.

    The Kazakhstan Chamber of Mines was established in March 2023 to represent the interests of mineral explorers, developers and producers in Kazakhstan. It unites national and foreign companies in the mining sector of Kazakhstan that emerged, entered or expanded their investments in connection with the adoption of the Subsoil and Subsoil Use Code, such as Sarytogan Graphite Ltd., Rio Tinto Exploration Kazakhstan, IG Kazakhstan Ltd., Aurora Minerals Group, Scythian Mining Group, Arras Minerals.

    Let us recall that in mid-September inbusiness.kz covered the congress of geologists, which was held in Astana.

    The document available to the editors of inbusiness.kz, entitled “resolution of the first congress of geologists of Kazakhstan,” was signed allegedly on behalf of the delegates by Daukeev S. Zh., Kuandykov B. M., Zholtaev G. Zh., Uzhenov B. S., Saiduakasov M.A. It says that the main reason for the stagnation in the discovery of new significant deposits is the inadequate volumes of the state geological study of subsoil (GGIN). As you know, such research is financed from the budget.

    “Private investors come only to promising subsoil areas already identified at the GGIN stage. GGIN is the main initial stage of serious government investment in the regional geological study of subsoil for their further preparation for exploration and production itself. GGIN is the foundation of all geological exploration. Without adequate funding, the discovery of new deposits, attraction of private investment in geological exploration and replenishment of the mineral resource base is impossible,” the resolution states.

    This document, in particular, proposes to increase state funding for GGIN to at least $40 per 1 sq. m. km and increase the volume of areas studied at the expense of the budget to 2.2 million square meters. km by 2026. In addition, it talks about the need to oblige subsoil users to invest 3% of the operating costs of production in geological exploration of their own areas to increase reserves. Moreover, the resolution voices proposals to radically revise and simplify the Subsoil Code, as well as maintain the status of the state commission on reserves.

  • Spanish court suspends section of Strategic Minerals’ Penouta permit

    Spanish court suspends section of Strategic Minerals’ Penouta permit

    Canadian company Strategic Minerals Europe said on Friday it was exploring its legal avenues to reverse a decision by a Spanish court to suspend the section C permit for its Penouta tin/tantalum mine.

    The Superior Court of Xusitza of Galicia (TSXG) has provisionally suspended the licence, following a complaint filed by environmentalist group Ecoloxistas en Accion against the local mining authority Xunta de Galicia.

    Strategic Minerals stated that it believed the claim, and therefore decision, was based on inaccurate assertions that the exploitation activities at the Penouta project were affecting irrigation and the immediate area.

    “The unilateral and unfounded decision of the TSXG to suspend the section C permit at the Penouta project is a decision we cannot support,” said company CEO Jaime Perez Branger.

    “We believe that the decision of the TSXG disregards the comprehensive environmental regulations currently in place and the administrative process the company went through to ensure that such regulations were followed, and will be a detrimental precedent to the economic prosperity, job creation and technological innovation of the mining industry in Spain and elsewhere.

    “We will relentlessly explore all avenues of appeal, not only for the sake of our employees, the community, our shareholders and business partners, but also for the promise of sustainable growth, shared prosperity, and environmental responsibility,” said Branger.

  • EU, US could agree on critical minerals despite steel failure, says France

    EU, US could agree on critical minerals despite steel failure, says France

    VALENCIA, Spain, Oct 20 (Reuters) – The European Union and the United States could reach a deal on critical minerals over the coming weeks or months despite their failure to agree an accord on steel and aluminium, French Trade Minister Olivier Becht said on Friday.

    U.S. and EU trade negotiators had hoped to agree on how to end Trump-era metals tariffs and to lessen the impact of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by Friday in time for a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden’s and top EU officials.

    The meeting is now expected to be dominated by the crisis in the Middle East.

    “It’s clearly a disappointment that we could not advance more quickly with our American friends. The discussions were intense and I hope they will restart as soon as possible,” Becht said before an EU ministers’ meeting on trade in Valencia, Spain.

    He said, however, he expected there would be an agreement “in the next weeks, in the next months” so that critical minerals used in electric vehicle batteries sourced from Europe would be eligible for some of the IRA’s consumer tax breaks.

    “It’s in both the interest of Europe and the United States to have this agreement,” Becht said.

    The United States has suspended import tariffs on EU steel and aluminium imposed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018, but on condition both sides agree measures to address overcapacity in non-market economies such as China, and promote greener steel.

    They had set an end-October deadline. Negotiators now target a deal by the end of the year.

    But the sides are apart as Washington wants the EU to apply the metal tariffs to imports from China and Brussels has said it cannot not do so before a year-long investigation to comply with World Trade Organization rules.

  • Portugal’s Barroso lithium mine project faces villagers’ ire

    Portugal’s Barroso lithium mine project faces villagers’ ire

    The lithium would be used for electric car batteries and is described by the mining company as critical for Europe’s transition to green energy.

    Portugal’s lithium reserves are considered central to Europe’s increasing demand for electric cars, but the villagers say it doesn’t justify ruining their way of life.

    “It would destroy everything,” says Aida Fernandes, as she looks across the valley where four opencast pits would border the village of Covas do Barroso in northern Portugal.

    Aida, like generations before her, farms cattle in this lush, unspoilt region which has UN Food and Agricultural Heritage status for its landscape and farming traditions.

    She deftly manoeuvres a tractor-load of brushwood which she’s spent the afternoon cutting from common land owned jointly by the community. Next she spreads the springy branches across the floor of the barn for bedding for her cattle.

    Common land is key to a dispute over plans for a new opencast mine – the Barroso Lithium Project – which would produce enough lithium for 500,000 electric car batteries a year over its 14-year operational life.

    But three quarters of the mine depends on accessing lithium deposits found in rocks on common land in the area, with the majority owned by the village.

    Aida is president of the Baldios – or common land association – which has rejected international mining company Savannah Resource’s financial offer to lease the land currently used for forestry and pasture.

    The European Union is keen to reduce its dependence on mines in China, Africa and South America for lithium and other raw materials needed for the green energy transition.

    The Barroso mine could be one of the first large-scale mines to supply battery grade lithium within Europe and in May Portugal’s Environment Agency gave Savannah Resources, which is based in London, the conditional go-ahead.

    They had revised their original proposals and agreed to changes such as not taking water from the local river. They must also build a new road to avoid the villages and fill in the opencast pits when mining there is finished.

    But opposition is still strong and Aida says that at the meetings they’ve had, “There isn’t anyone who’s in favour.” She says that in spite of the changes, “this is not good for us or for the environment” and they will fight on.

    If an agreement isn’t reached the Portuguese government could expropriate the land.

    Savannah also wants to buy private land from people like Maria Loureiro, who farms at the other end of the village. She grows olive trees and has cows which trot past us with bells jingling around their necks.

    “We’re not for sale, we don’t want to sell,” she tells me. She resents the offers of compensation and royalties for the area. “If I sold my land, what would I do?” she asks. She would also lose access to pasture on the common land if the mine went ahead.

    This is echoed by Fernando Queiroga, mayor of the municipality of Boticas, which includes the village of Covas do Barroso. He says that even if people are compensated for the duration of the mine they “will never go back to producing agricultural products again because in the meantime they’ll leave or they’ll just give up farming”.

    He’s finalising a legal challenge to the conditional approval of the project. “If the national courts don’t give us our answer, we’ll appeal to the European Court,” he says.

    The parish council of Covas do Barroso and the common land association have also lodged their own legal cases in an attempt to block the project.

    Dale Ferguson, the Australian interim CEO of Savannah Resources, says they’ve “listened to the community” and have made changes but concedes that “there always is some level of impact”.

    He believes the mine is “really critical for the energy transition for Europe”. He admits though, that with legal challenges, “the courts will make those ultimate decisions but we respect everybody’s rights and everybody’s opinions”.

    Portugal’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, Ana Fontoura Gouveia, is backing the Barroso mine and further exploitation of lithium in Portugal. She says the mine will bring new jobs and funding through royalties to the area. The legal action, she claims, is simply part of the democratic process.

    But does she see this as a test case for the rest of Portugal and Europe? “I see it as a best practice case and we are keen to show that you can do mining in Europe in the 21st Century with the highest standards and to the benefits of local populations,” she says.

    The rest of Europe will be watching the outcome closely, as pressure grows across the continent to open new mines for raw materials needed for the green transport and energy of the future.

  • Scottish gold mine owner Scotgold in new talks

    Scottish gold mine owner Scotgold in new talks

    The company had on October 2 warned that administrators could be appointed “over the coming days” after the party which had at that stage been the “most advanced prospective investor” withdrew from discussions.

    Scotgold told the stock market today: “Further to this, the company is now in advanced discussions with a new strategic investor which, should final agreement be reached, is expected to provide sufficient funding for the company to continue as a going concern.”

    However, it added: “Whilst financing discussions are at an advanced stage, in the event the company cannot secure financing with the new strategic investor, this could result in the appointment of administrators.”

    Scotgold describes itself as “Scotland’s first commercial gold producer”.

    It poured first gold in November 2020 at its Cononish gold and silver mine near Tyndrum.

    The company noted it is developing Cononish into a “plus-23,500-ounce gold mine per annum”.

    It added: “Cononish is a high-grade underground mining operation with a central processing plant producing gold concentrate for off-take and gold doré for the Scottish jewellery industry.”

    Scotgold has in recent years highlighted its ambitions to develop other sites in Scotland.

    It noted: “It is Scotgold’s vision to build a mid-tier gold mining company in Scotland with multiple operations in the country that enhance the local environment and economy in ways that have an enduring positive impact.”

    Trading in Scotgold shares was suspended on September 11 after the company told the stock market it needed “significant capital investment” and highlighted the “highly uncertain” outcome of funding discussions.

    It said then: “On 10 July 2023, the company announced that, among other things, it was undertaking a third-party review of the Cononish mine plan for the next 12 months, encompassing a geological review of the Cononish mine mineral resource estimate (MRE) and grade control (GC) process, mine design, schedule and production forecasts. Initial findings have been fed back to the board.

    “As announced on 10 July 2023, H1 2023 was disappointing in terms of gold production and development of the underground mine at Cononish. The ability of the group to continue as a going concern over the long term would remain dependent on the quantity and grade of ore mined and processed being within a reasonable tolerance of the forecast quantity and grade and adherence to the previously planned product shipment schedule.”

    In this September 11 statement, Scotgold added: “While the geological data and documentation suggested ‘no fatal flaws’ in the MRE and GC modelling process, the draft mine plan and associated cash flow forecasts are currently being reviewed by the company, but they indicate that to deliver to the plan, a significant capital investment is required.

    “The company is actively seeking additional financing and discussions are in an advanced stage and, should they materialise, are expected to provide sufficient funding for the company to continue as a going concern. The outcome of the funding discussions is highly uncertain and if the company cannot conclude a significant fundraise, it will cast material uncertainty for the company to continue as a going concern.”

    Scotgold revealed late last month that it had placed the majority of its approximately 80-strong workforce at the Cononish mine on unpaid leave.

    This unpaid leave arrangement remains in place.

    On September 29, Scotgold told the stock market: “As at 28 September 2023, the company has placed the majority of its employees on short term unpaid leave until further notice, allowing the company time to advance the financing discussions and preserve funds to help retain some key trained staff members across mining and plant and maintenance. This care and maintenance team will maintain the company’s assets and ensure compliance with statutory, regulatory and environmental reporting obligations for the immediate future.”

  • Miners see value in EU focus on ESG but face red tape hurdles

    Miners see value in EU focus on ESG but face red tape hurdles

    Miners welcome the positive impact of Europe’s focus on environment, social and governance issues (ESG) although the process can be riddled with red tape causing delays in achieving their green ambitions, company executives said.

    Mining is crucial for the supply of critical raw materials including copper and aluminium needed for electric vehicles and renewable technologies such as solar power, but miners are also responsible for up to 7% of greenhouse-gas (GHG) global emissions as most in the sector race to hit net zero by 2050.

    Compliance with ESG standards are increasingly important to keep commitments from institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance firms and for bank loans.

    Christel Bories, CEO at miner Eramet told Reuters documentation proving the company’s ESG credentials for bank loans ran into thousands of pages and that the whole process from start to finish could take up to 18 months.

    “We have no problem supplying the evidence… but it does slow down the project,” Bories said.

    One initiative welcomed by metal producers is the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). From October 1, EU firms have to report the GHG embedded during production of imported volumes of some goods including iron and steel, aluminium and electricity.

    CO2 emission charges will not be imposed until 2026.

    “We like it because it gives us a level playing field with other countries,” said Boliden CEO Mikael Staffas, but he added there were issues.

    “One example is if you import copper, turn it into tube and export it, you should get some credit back. This will be an administrative nightmare,” Staffas said referring to the paperwork that would be required.

    Investors want to see mining companies account for and report their emissions consistently and mine in a socially responsible way.

    “There is a concern that there has been a proliferation (of standards) but let’s not forget a lot of these standards have evolved because things in the sector have not been so good in the past,” said Adam Matthews, chief responsible investment officer for the Church of England Pensions Board, which invests in mining companies.

    Boliden’s Staffas cited zero fatalities due to focus on ESG compared with roughly two per annum at some of the largest miners. “We are 15 years fatality free.”

    EU lawmakers are also pushing for far greater recycling of waste in a new law to ensure the bloc has raw materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt required for its green transition, and traditional recycling companies and newcomers are investing in capacity to produce battery materials.

    Eramet’s joint venture with water company Suez to be located in France’s Dunkirk region is one example.

    The partners are aiming to build a plant to dismantle electric vehicle batteries, followed by a second unit to separate and refine metals for reuse with a low carbon hydrometallurgy process.

  • Fortescue opens UK tech innovation center

    Fortescue opens UK tech innovation center

    ASX-listed Fortescue has cut the ribbon on its $23-million technical innovation centre in the UK.

    The Kidlington facility will focus on the technical development, testing and prototype production of batteries and zero emission powertrains for a wide range of applications, including motorsports, mining haul trucks, and other off-road and automotive applications.

    The site will employ 300 highly skilled workers, with up to 50 more jobs to be created in the next year.

    The facility will exclusively develop and produce batteries for the first generation of Extreme H, a new motorsports series beginning in February 2025.

    Fortescue WAE is already the battery provider for the Extreme E Series, The Extreme H car will use a similar powertrain used in Extreme E. The chassis has been improved to address the safety requirements associated with the use of hydrogen. The key differentiating factor in Extreme H will be that a hydrogen fuel cell combined with a smaller battery will replace the larger battery as the principal means of on board energy storage (H2fuel/battery).

    “This new technical innovation centre in Kidlington will not only drive the leading edge of decarbonised motorsports, but also lead the way to decarbonising heavy industry as well,” Fortescue executive chairperson and founder Dr Andrew Forrest said.

    “Fortescue bought Britain’s best racing battery maker not only to help decarbonise our own operations, but to help other businesses to adopt zero-emission technologies as well, and cement UK as a green technology and manufacturing leader.”

    Among the first batteries produced at the Kidlington site, will be those used to power Fortescue’s prototype 240 t mining haul trucks in Australia.

    The battery system, which is currently being tested onsite in the Pilbara, is integral to Fortescue’s $6.2-billion decarbonisation strategy to help eliminate fossil fuels from its terrestrial iron-ore operations, which includes replacing its existing diesel-fuelled fleet with battery electric- and green hydrogen-powered haul trucks.

    Fortescue WAE CEO Judith Judson said the opening of the facility marked the latest milestone in the evolution of Fortescue WAE into a global zero-emission technology solutions and manufacturing company.

    “Fortescue and other companies need the battery and green technology solutions that will be manufactured here at Kidlington, to decarbonise their operations. The world can’t afford for businesses to wait, so we are showing them that moving to zero-emission solutions and away from fossil fuels is not only possible, but can be profitable as well.”

    “The knowledge we have learned from racing is applied to everything we do, including our mining haul truck battery systems and other electric powertrains. It is what sets Fortescue apart.”

    The Kidlington site is co-located on the Oxford Technology Park and will have the capacity to produce and test up to 500 prototype battery systems a year with a total production capacity of 50 MWh/y.

    The facility allows Fortescue to expand electrification capability to support the growth of the business and the drive for green tech and zero emissions.

  • Flooded and forgotten: How Europe’s disused coal mines are successfully being used to heat our homes

    Flooded and forgotten: How Europe’s disused coal mines are successfully being used to heat our homes

    An old coal mine has been providing an English town with green energy for the last six months.

    The ground-breaking project in Gateshead is using the warm water that has filled the tunnels to heat hundreds of homes and businesses in the former coalfield community.

    Hailed a success, the UK’s first large-scale network shows the huge potential to be found in the nation’s sprawling warren of old mining tunnels, which sit beneath roughly a quarter of homes.

    “What we have in Gateshead is a legacy from the days of the coal mines, which was dirty energy,” says John McElroy, cabinet member for the environment and transport at Gateshead Council. “Now we are leading the way in generating clean, green energy from those mines.”

    Following decades of disuse, Britain’s coal mines have gradually flooded. Warmed by the earth, this liquid offers one answer to our renewable energy needs.

    With an estimated 2 billion cubic metres of warm water – more than a quarter of the volume of Loch Ness – geologists believe that Britain’s mine shafts hold one of the biggest underused sources of clean energy.

    “Recovering heat from mine water below the ground within abandoned coal mines provides an exciting opportunity to generate a low carbon, secure supply of heat, benefitting people living or working in buildings on the coalfields,” says Gareth Farr, head of heat and by-product innovation at the Coal Authority.

    The authority owns and manages the disused coal-mining infrastructure on behalf of the UK government.

    “With many millions of people living upon abandoned coalfields in Great Britain, the potential for mine water heat could be significant.”

    Tapping into the heat from water in the mines has the added benefit of boosting the economies of some of the communities most badly hit by deep coal mining closures in the 1980s. So how does it work exactly, and where is it taking off?

    How can flooded mines help to heat homes?

    Mine water gets warmer the deeper it goes, as this interactive map of old coal mines from the UK Coal Authority shows. Temperatures typically range from 10 to 20C but can reach up to 45C at depths of 1km – such as the Yorkshire site.

    Left to mix with the subterranean rock, the water often contains toxic compounds. But as a thermal source it is a valuable resource that can be harnessed through drilling boreholes which bring it to the surface.

    The water is then directed through heat pumps and extractors which compress the liquid, raising it to a much higher temperature before distributing it through heating networks.

    Once its heat has been absorbed in surrounding buildings, the water can be poured back into the mine system where it will be warmed up again.

    Mine water heat also has the advantage of working all year round. Temperatures aren’t affected by the seasons, and the water can be used to cool homes as well as heat them.

    Which UK towns are tapping into the energy source?

    Once at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, north-east England is now leading the way on this alternative energy source.

    Gateshead Council’s mine water project launched in March 2023 and is now one of the largest in Europe. With government funding, it installed 5km of new heat network pipes, boreholes and a heat pump energy centre capable of producing 6 mega-watts of mine water heat.

    This now provides secure, low-carbon heating to 350 high rise homes, a college, art gallery, several office buildings and a large manufacturing site.

    The Coal Authority and partners have been researching the potential for recovering low-carbon heat from disused coal mining infrastructure for several years.

    The UK Geoenergy Observatory (UKGEOS) based in Glasgow and run by the British Geological Survey, is one of the key research stations for this exploratory field.

    After the busy mines of the Scottish city and nearby town of Rutherglen shut, natural floods filled them with water of about 12C. In summer 2021, a dozen boreholes drilled into the site and fitted with hundreds of sensors provided a clearer image of the network of flooded tunnels. They revealed how fast water flows among mines, how warm it is, how quickly it replenishes and reheats.

    “The data from these 12 boreholes in Glasgow will help scientists around the world understand the subsurface and geothermal energy better,” said UKGEOS’s Alan MacDonald.

    The Glasgow Observatory and another project in Cheshire are part of a £31 million (€37 million) investment by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The funds being devoted to this research show the increasing interest the government is taking in this striking form of geothermal energy.

    The European pioneers of geothermal energy

    By tapping into its history to create new geo-energy assets, the UK is following in the footsteps of other European countries.

    The world’s first mine water power station opened in the Dutch city of Heerlen in 2008. It is now connected to around 500 houses and commercial facilities – cutting the area’s carbon emissions from heating by almost two thirds.

    A similar project is underway in the rugged Asturias region of northern Spain, where flooded coal shafts are heating (and cooling) a hospital, university and numerous other buildings.

    “Geothermal energy has given a second life to our coal mines,” Asturias’s director of energy María Belarmina Díaz Aguado told the BBC.

    Countries repurposing their underground reserves are also looking further north, to Iceland, a pioneer of geothermal energy.

    But though the first mine water power station is on European ground, the technology was harnessed nearly two decades earlier in Springhill, Nova Scotia.

    Synonymous with mining disasters, the Canadian community started using the heat from its dormant coal mines in 1989. One packaging firm in the town now boasts a 100 per cent renewable system, all year round.

  • Europe starts the clock on greening Soviet-era heating grids

    Europe starts the clock on greening Soviet-era heating grids

    Heating grids are pipelines spanning cities, transporting hot water from power plants into homes. What originated from a Soviet fondness for centrally-planned solutions soon spread to Nordic countries after the 1970s oil crises.

    Today, 12% of the EU’s heat and hot water needs are serviced by district heating, with the percentage going up to 40% in countries like Poland.

    In Eastern EU countries, the water is heated chiefly by burning coal, but countries there will have to switch to greener alternatives in order to meet the EU’s climate neutrality goals.

    Can they meet the challenge?

    “Meeting the requirements in Poland will require, depending on the scenario, expenditures of more than €90 billion to decarbonise the district heating sector,” said Pawel Szczeszek, president of the Polish district heating company PTEZ and vice-president of the country’s electricity industry association PKEE.

    “We are concerned about the excessive burden the transformation costs will impose on ours users,” he told participants at a recent EURACTIV event.

    Especially challenging are cities like Warsaw, where a network of pipes 1,800 kilometres-long supplies 80% of homes with heat. A mere 7% of the energy used in Poland’s heating grids is green.

    The clock is already ticking for Poland and other Eastern EU counties where dirty fuels play a dominant role in district heating.

    “The Energy Efficiency Directive introduces several measures that are addressing the district heating sector and district cooling sector,” explained Madis Laaniste, policy officer for energy at the European Commission’s energy department.

    For instance, it introduces benchmarks district heating systems need to meet in order to be labelled as “efficient” – a crucial requirement to qualify for state support, he added.

    By 2028, heat grids must use a mix of 50% renewables, 50% waste, or 75% cogeneration heat from nearby industry and power stations in order to be labelled “efficient”. The requirements tighten gradually before district heating must be fully renewable or running on industry waste heat from 2050.

    The EU’s renewables directive adds to the pressure, with an indicative target of boosting renewables in district heating by more than 2% per year, while relying on biomass to replace fossil fuels will become more challenging due to tighter sustainability rules.

    “After 2030, there will be no support for the new investments using fossil fuels,” explained Laanise, adding that “after 2035, there will be no support for the systems that use only fossil fuels”.

    Moreover, the price of CO2 certificates under the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) are expected to rise by 2040 – above €400 per tonne according to some projections – putting the Eastern European district heating industry under pressure to transform.

    But Poland’s district heating companies are not amused by the EU’s fuel mix requirements, saying it makes the gradual transformation of the grid more challenging.

    “We see that it’s impossible to divide, for example, the district heating systems in Warsaw, in Gdansk, in Krakow into smaller parts,” explained Dorota Jeziorowska, a director at PTEZ. “Until 2045, combined heat and power units will definitely be needed,” she added, saying state support will be essential to make the transformation happen.

    Radan Kanev, a conservative EU lawmaker from Bulgaria, argued that state support may not be enough

    “The transformation of such huge facilities is a very difficult task,” he told the event. “It is certainly expensive, but it is also a very serious engineering challenge without an obvious solution.”

    How, then, should district heating companies meet the time-pressure from Brussels while grappling with the engineering side of such a large-scale transformation?

    Julien Joubert, who works on transformation planning at Energy Cities, a European association of local authorities, offered a Central European vision to Eastern Europe: Vienna.

    Not unlike Poland and Bulgaria, Vienna burns fossil fuels, waste, and biomass to heat its millions of residents.

    “Now Vienna’s strategy is not to go to biomass but really develop geothermal energy and also recover the waste heat produced by industry,” he said at the Euractiv event. Munich had similar plans, Joubert added.

    From 2026, Vienna’s utility Wien Energie plans to serve 20,000 households with hot water from geothermal, a figure that will rise to 120,000 households by 2030 before the city’s heating grid becomes entirely climate neutral by 2040.

    It’s a future hard to imagine for Warsaw, however, where the utility in charge eyes coal-heated water well into the mid 2040s.