Lower availability of wood pellets was not related to restrictions on wood harvesting or the regulation on pellet quality – Deputy Minister of Climate Mikołaj Dorożała told PAP. He added that the main culprit was a frosty winter and, consequently, lower production at sawmills.
At the beginning of the year, the media reported on shortages of wood pellets at fuel depots, which resulted in rising prices of this type of fuel. The Chamber of Commerce for Renewable Energy Equipment and Polish Industry assured that pellets had not disappeared from the market and the supply chain was functioning despite seasonal fluctuations. There are over 400,000 in Poland. pellet boilers. Their number has increased significantly in recent years, thanks to, among others, the Clean Air program and subsidies for such a heating source.
The main reason for the shortage – frost, which stopped sawmills
Dorożała emphasized that the “main culprit” of the recent confusion on the pellet market was primarily the cold winter. – In recent years we have had winters when it was e.g. 5 degrees in January. This year it was minus 15 degrees, and in some regions it was over minus 20 degrees. This directly affected many sawmills, especially smaller and medium-sized ones, which could not work in such conditions. The wood was so frozen and hard that the machines could not process it, which resulted in work stoppages, he said.
He informed that, according to estimates, from 20 to 30 percent. small and medium-sized sawmills had downtime due to severe frost.
Dorożała also pointed out that the cold winter also increased the demand for various types of fuel, including wood pellets.
Myths around the availability of wood
– The biggest fakethat appeared in the media and was most often repeated by some politicians was that the lack of pellets on the market is due to lower acquisition or availability of wood raw material on the market. The supply of wood from the State Forests has been at a constant and stable level for about six years – emphasized the representative of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
As he pointed out, in 2023 the State Forests acquired over 39 million cubic meters. wood; in 2024 it was over 40 million cubic meters; in 2025 it was just over 39 million cubic meters.
Dorożała also pointed out that Wood pellets are not made from high-quality round wood, which is e.g. used to produce furniture. Pellets are produced from wood waste, such as shavings, sawdust or bark. – Lower temperatures limited the production capacity of sawmills, and as a result, the production of waste used for pellet production decreased – he noted.
Have the new regulations harmed the market?
The deputy minister also rejected allegations that problems with pellet availability resulted from two regulations in force. In May last year the regulation on quality requirements for biomass obtained from trees and shrubs, which enters the market in the form of e.g. pellets, came into force. The second regulation, which came into force in September last year, concerned a new definition of energy wood. Its goal was to eliminate high-quality wood from burning in commercial power plants. Wood residues, including waste and by-products resulting from wood processing, are still considered energy wood.
Referring to the first regulation, Dorożała emphasized that it resulted, among others, from: from the wood industry's appeals to ensure that boilers are not supplied with valuable wood that can be used for production. – Thanks to this solution, more wood will reach the market, and if there is more of it on the market, there will be more sawdust from its processing, which should have a positive impact on pellet production – he argued.
Professional energy industry versus households
When asked about estimates of how much wood was put on the market thanks to this regulation, he replied that it was too early to determine it. – I think it will take about a year to estimate it. When developing the project, we estimated that thanks to the incineration ban, an additional 1 million cubic meters could reach the market. full-value wood – said the deputy minister.
Referring to the second regulation on quality standards for pellets, he emphasized that “it supports Polish entrepreneurs, producers of this type of fuel, because it established standards to which our companies have long been adapted.” – Thanks to this, it is not possible to import pellets into the country that do not meet the standards and contain, for example, plastic elements – he added.
Dorożała admitted that the energy industry's great interest in wood biomass may limit the availability of the raw material for individual customers. However, he pointed out that this issue was more the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy. According to the deputy minister of climate, there should be an “urgent review of energy installations that use industrial pellets in professional energy.”
– In our opinion, the key is to balance the issue of pellet supply to the commercial energy industry versus individual consumers. We must do everything possible to guarantee the availability of raw materials at an affordable price for households, he added.
The deputy minister pointed out that approximately 2.2 million tons of wood pellets are produced annually in Poland. (PAP)
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