A country with significant renewables potential and one of the fastest-growing heat pump markets worldwide, Poland’s energy transition is being hampered by a stubborn coal fleet and grid limitations. A growing level of support and investment among the general public may help ease its path
Coal still dominates Poland’s power generation, but wind and solar could turn the tables with the right policies and investments that modernise the grid
STARTING POINT Coal’s share of power generation exceeds 70% and the government is not planning to retire coal until mid-century
STEPPING UP Poland must increase its renewable energy ambitions to meet decarbonisation goals and bring down energy costs
KEY QUOTE The biggest bottleneck in coming years for Poland’s energy transition will definitely be the grid ...
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Poland has recorded the strongest growth in heat pump sales in Europe in 2021. This is the result of market certainty and customer incentives and shows the way for other states looking to heat pumps in decarbonisation efforts, says Monika Morawiecka and Jan Rosenow from the Regulatory Assistance Project
The world’s development banks are funnelling ever-greater volumes of finance into clean energy — but the challenge of shifting entire economies away from climate-wrecking activity and towards actions that align investment goals with those of the Paris Agreement requires a more holistic approach
The gas package and renovation wave in the European Green Deal raise new opportunities for ending Europe’s dependence on gas. We need to think about what this means for energy poor households, writes Louise Sunderland from the Regulatory Assistance Project
A new transmission line across the Baltic Sea shows that a more integrated European power network is not only steadily evolving, but that innovative approaches to infrastructure design can bring down the cost of the energy transition.
Time-stamped certificates would allow customers to know where their power is coming from at any given time and could provide another signal for investors by driving up prices for green energy certificates when supply is short. Regulators are taking steps to ensure that consumers signing up for green tariffs are really helping to progress the energy transition
The new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised a Green Deal for Europe. For it to be truly green, it will have to be fossil fuel free and this means cleaning up the European Investment Bank. The development bank this summer proposed phasing out support for oil and gas projects. Colin Roche from Friends of the Earth Europe urges the EIB board to back the plan when it meets in September
Citizen activism is working to force change that is beneficial for all
Poland gets a lot of bad press for its over reliance on coal, but Jan Rosenow and Richard Cowart from the Regulatory Assistance Project highlight how the country is putting in place regulations that could see it become a leader in ending the use of coal to heat homes