Energy & Science
When It Rains It Pours as Ailing Top EU Miner Stung by Virus
- Polish hard coal producer PGG suspends 3 of its 14 mines
- State-run PGG posted loss for 2019 as demand for coal wanes
Photographer: Bartek Sadowski/Poland
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For Polish coal producer PGG SA, the coronavirus outbreak couldn’t have come at a worse moment.
After posting a heavy loss last year as renewables keep pushing out coal as a source of electricity generation, the warm winter only aggravated the situation. Then, the spreading pandemic and the subsequent lockdown slashed power consumption in the European Union’s largest eastern economy by 10% and further reduced demand for the dirty fuel.