Clouds of smoke over Europe’s largest lignite power plant in Betchatow, central Poland (AP/Czarek Sokolowski, File)Firefighters in central Poland say 13 units are fighting a blaze on a conveyer belt at Poland’s largest brown coal mine in Belchatow. The fire broke out at midday on Saturday and sent huge clouds of black smoke over the area, which also includes Poland’s largest lignite power plant. A spokesman for the firefighters in Lodz region, Jedrzej Pawlak, said there were no reports of casualties. The neighbouring power plant, which suffered an automated outage in a separate incident on Monday, was not affected. Coal makes up 65% of Poland’s energy sources, including 17% from lignite.

Source: Irish Independent May 22, 2021 12:11 UTC