German refinery gets special permission to exceed SO2 emissions. We will feel it too

• Under a special decision, the PCK refinery in Schwedt may exceed sulfur dioxide emission limits for the next 2.5 years.
• German environmental organizations intend to challenge the special permit and the procedure for granting it.
• The Polish side will continuously monitor the effects of increased SO2 emissions in the Świecko region.

The German State Environmental Agency has issued a special permit for the PCK oil refinery in Schwedt in the state of Brandenburg.

It allows for exceeding daily SO2 limits, the authorization is valid until the end of 2027 and allows for emissions of 5.6 thousand tons of gas per year.

The special permit for this most emission-producing refinery in Germany allows SO2 emissions of up to 1000 mg/Nm3 as a daily average value in individual cases.

The PCK refinery is the only one in this part of Europe that uses waste from fuel production to produce energy in its CHP plant, which additionally increases high emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

The justification for the permit stated that the increased SO2 emissions result from the processing of approximately 20 different types of crude oil from many suppliers in the refinery.

Oil from Kazakhstan and many other directions reaches Schwedt

The suspension of imports of Russian oil, which was previously the only supplier, is due to the introduction of EU sanctions following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Since then, oil from Kazakhstan has continued to reach Schwedt via the Druzhba pipeline , transiting through Russia, Belarus and Poland.

The remaining supplies are delivered by sea to Naftoport in Gdańsk and the port of Rostock and then via pipelines to Szwedt.

Failure to comply with the permitted limits would result in the partial or complete closure of the refinery, which would have economic consequences for the eastern federal states, including causing problems with the fuel supply to Berlin, the State Environmental Office said in a statement.

The decision comes after numerous objections to the easing of environmental restrictions were considered. German environmental organization Environmental Aide announced that it intends to work to have the permit invalidated.

This also applies to the provision regarding immediate enforceability. One of the arguments is that the PCK refinery should have invested in effective desulfurization technologies earlier.

The refinery in Schwedt is located just 10 km from the Polish border and residents are concerned that for more than 2.5 years gases containing sulfur compounds will pollute water intakes, but also meadows and agricultural fields.

The PCK refinery in Schwedt supplies fuel to the capital of Germany and the entire Berlin metropolitan area

The Ministry of Climate and Environmental Protection announced full monitoring and an ongoing response to any exceedances of permissible standards.

Russia's Rosneft owns shares in the Schwedt Refinery , but the company has been under state administration for over two years as a result of EU sanctions.

Production capacity slightly exceeds 11.5 million tons of crude oil per day. In 2023, 8.4 million tons of raw material were processed , data for the past year have not yet been published.