With 1600 MW capacity the Elektrownia Północ power plant is going to be one of the largest new such facilities in Europe. According to the plans, it is going to be located on valuable agricultural lands in Rajkowy village near Pelplin. Besides main buildings, it consists of road and railway system, water main for water intake from the Vistula River and waste water discharge to the river and a system of high-voltage power lines.

Among the citizens opposing this investment are not only environmentalists and naturalists but also farmers from Kociewie region who fear decrease in crops quality and the standard of living near the coal giant. The naturalists points out many hazards to wildlife (including the Vistula River ecosystem) and human health. The investor still has no building permit for Elektrownia Północ and is highly doubtful whether it will be issued at all. The public consultations recently conducted in Kociewie has resulted in numerous protests of the local citizens who have submitted their critical remarks. The investor has recently decided to decrease the power plant unit’s capacity and has reinitiated the procedure for obtaining building permit.

- Both the citizens of Kociewie and the health and environmental activists are highly determined to stop this investment – says Radosław Sawicki, ‘Wspólna Ziemia’ (Common Earth) and StopEP coalition activist. – Our main goal is to make Pomerania citizens aware of how harmful Elektrownia Północ will be in its every respect: health, environmental, social and economic.

The energy balance of Pomerania is negative. The region has been importing energy from other parts of Poland, mainly from the south. Are there any alternatives to build a local power plant?

- Pomerania for renewables, renewables for Pomerania! This vision and this direction ought to be supported and developed, creating new jobs, ensuring energy safety and protecting natural resources using RE. We do not need a coal-fired power plant! - assures Dariusz Szwed from the Green Institute. – We promote the idea of energy democracy. What we want is that instead of one coal or nuclear giant owned by a monopolist, thousands of small, socialized facilities producing energy from renewable sources were built. Let’s imagine hundred thousands of microinstalations on roofs and in backyards all over Pomerania, the facilities producing energy for the citizens and bringing about independence from energy corporations. We promote prosumer solutions with the use of which the producer becomes also the consumer of energy. This idea works like a charm in many places all over the world.

First informative action of the Elektrownia Północ opponents starts at 1pm on Długi Targ in Gdańsk on Monday, 28th of July. The activists of the StopEP campaign will be found near the monument of Neptune. They will talk to passers-by and present a small solar kit for energy production. They will also distribute leaflets about negative impacts of coal-fired power plants on human health and the environment.

Similar actions are taking place at 1 pm on Tuesday July 29th on Pomorska Street in Tczew (between the railway station and the Kociewska Gallery) and on Wednesday, July 30th, in Malbork on Plac Jagiellończyka.

Contact:
Radosław Sawicki
tel. 660 040 248
stopep.org