London, 1 April 2010

Polish utility PGE’s Belchatow plant topped the list of the biggest EU ETS emitters in 2009: It is the second consecutive year that the plant topped the table as the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the EU 27-member state bloc, according to data from the European commission. The top 10 was largely unchanged from last year, with six German power plants, one Italian, one Greek, one UK and one Polish plant making up the places.

Together they emitted over 190 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than 10 per cent of what most analysts reckon was the total emitted in the whole scheme last year.

But when it comes to which installation had to buy the most credits in 2009, generous allocations by Poland, Greece and Italy ensured that installations in Germany and the UK had to pay the most.

Eight German power plants were among the top 10 installations that had to buy the most credits, with two UK power plants taking the remaining places.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, the data revealed that the top 10 installations with the biggest number of permits to sell were all steel plants.

The top 10, which had a surplus of 63 million EU allowances last year, worth around EUR 900 million in today’s market, included three ArcelorMittal plants.