BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it opened an investigation to assess whether planned public support for the refurbishment of five district heating networks in Poland are in line with EU rules on state aid.
"At this stage, the Commision has concerns that the planned support may not be in line with EU state aid rules, as it does not meet the "efficient district heating" criteria set out in the energy efficiency directive," the bloc's executive said in a statement.
The district heating networks in the Polish municipalities of Tarnobrzeg, Ropczyce, Lesko, Debica and Ustrzyki Dolne generate heat predominantly from coal-fired boilers.
The planned public support would not solve the issue of inefficient heat source supplying the system and it would also risk locking in inefficient and polluting heat production, the Commission said.
(Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine, editing by Francesco Guarascio)