– coal, briquettes or pellets containing at least 85 % of hard coal,

– solid products obtained from the thermal processing of hard coal or lignite, intended for use in the municipal sector.

Regulation of the Minister for Industry and the Minister for Climate and the Environment on qualityrequirements for solid fuels

The draft Regulation establishes the quality requirements for solid fuels referred to in Article 2(1)(4a)(a) and(b) of the Act of 25 August 2006 on the system for monitoring and controlling the quality of fuels (Journal ofLaws of 2024, item 846, as amended), which are placed on the market or are subject to the customsprocedure of release for free circulation, if these fuels are intended for use in households and in combustionplants with a rated thermal input of less than 1 MW, as well as the maximum permissible level of deviation fromthese requirements. These requirements shall be established taking into account the state of technicalknowledge in this field resulting from studies on these fuels as well as experience gained from their use, withparticular emphasis on the need to improve air quality, including the reduction of emissions of greenhousegases and other substances into the air.

Quality requirements have been established for:
(1) hard coal, briquettes or pellets containing at least 85 % hard coal:
(a) coarse assortments with a grain size of: 63 to 200 mm: cobble coal 25 to 80 mm: nut coal, standard nutcoal for heating appliances of classes 3, 4 and 5 or meeting eco-design requirements,
(b) medium assortments with a grain size of 5 to 40 mm: pea coal 5 to 31,50 mm: standard pea coal forheating appliances of classes 3, 4 and 5 or meeting the eco-design requirements,
(c) without admixtures of coal slurries and flotation concentrates – qualified solid fuels with a grain size of 3 to31.50 mm: fine coal,
(d) anthracite;
(2) solid fuels obtained from the thermal treatment of coal;
(3) solid fuels obtained from the thermal treatment of lignite.
A cut-off date has been set:
• 30 June 2027 for the application of quality requirements for solid fuels obtained by thermal treatment oflignite;
• 30 June 2029 for the application of quality requirements for coal, briquettes or pellets containing at least 85 %coal without admixtures of coal slurries and flotation concentrates (qualified solid fuels with a grain size of 3 to31.5 mm: fine coal);
• 30 June 2031 for the application of the quality requirements for fuels:
(a) hard coal, briquettes or pellets containing at least 85 % hard coal (coarse assortments with a grain size of63 to 200 mm: ),
(b) hard coal, briquettes or pellets containing at least 85 % hard coal (coarse assortments of grain size 25 to80 mm: nut coal)
(c) hard coal, briquettes or pellets containing at least 85 % hard coal (medium assortments with a particle sizeof 5 to 40 mm: pea coal).
The proposed values for coal quality parameters in the draft Regulation, which are spread over transitionalperiods (§ 3-5), will give producers and operators placing these fuels on the market time to adapt, thusavoiding disruptions in the availability of coal for individual consumers and threats to energy security.