Six months ago a new governing coalition came to power in Poland, yet no substantial changes have taken place in the country's energy policy. Even so, Donald Tusk's government has finally begun work on drafting the most important energy transition laws, such as the easing of the rules on building wind farms that it pledged to deliver. The forthcoming energy transition strategies and the associated changes to legislation promise an interesting situation.

Events expected in the coming weeks

• Polish electricity for Ukraine – Warsaw is seeking an exemption from carbon allowance charges under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) for electricity generated by burning coal and supplied to Ukraine, which is struggling with mounting damage to its energy infrastructure caused by Russian attacks. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced this at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The European Commission, however, indicated that for the time being the European Union is focusing on increasing the technical capacity of the existing EU–Ukraine electricity interconnections rather than on increasing electricity generation. The EC added that electricity generation "is subject to the normal EU ETS rules, meaning that coal-fired installations must surrender ETS allowances corresponding to their emissions, i.e. they pay for their emissions in line with the 'polluter pays' principle that underpins the ETS".

• A possible influx of Ukrainian refugees – given Ukraine's energy problems, Poland is preparing for a possible influx of refugees this autumn and winter. Ukrainians may have to leave their homes if these cannot be heated or are without electricity, explained Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. Since the start of the Russian invasion, Poland has been one of the main destinations for Ukrainian refugees. According to Eurostat data, there were 961,180 Ukrainian refugees in Poland at the end of June. Among EU countries, only Germany has more – 1.3 million.

• The Polish government has begun work on easing the restrictions on building onshore wind turbines, reducing the minimum distance from homes from 700 metres to 500 metres. This is a compromise on the governing coalition's original intention: even before the government was confirmed in office, it had drawn up a draft to cut the minimum distance from homes to as little as 300 metres. Poland's former ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), firmly opposed the proposal. The government is expected to approve the new draft in the autumn. It may reach parliament after the summer recess, Polish Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska told the news service Money.pl.

• The first regulation of the hydrogen market – after the summer recess the Polish parliament will work on the country's first bill regulating the hydrogen market, as the government hopes that hydrogen will one day replace fossil gas and help speed up the energy transition. The Ministry of Climate takes the view that the absence of regulation is slowing the development of the hydrogen economy and the uptake of new technologies. In June, the Polish state energy company Orlen opened the first publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling station for cars, lorries and buses. It is located in Poznań, which already has a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses (25 vehicles).

• Nuclear energy plans. In mid-2023, under the PiS government, "work on selecting a potential site for Poland's second planned nuclear power plant was halted 'for reasons that remain unclear'," Maciej Bando, the deputy climate minister responsible for strategic energy infrastructure, told the media. The new governing coalition has resumed this work and will announce its decision "in the middle or the third quarter of next year". Poland plans to build the plant near existing coal-fired power stations that are due to close shortly. In October last year, Poland approved a plan to build its first planned nuclear power plant in the municipality of Choczewo on the Baltic Sea coast, roughly 80 km west of Gdańsk.

The latest news from Poland – a round-up of last month

• Energy generation figures – in the first half of 2024, more than 28% of the electricity generated in Poland came from renewable energy sources, reports the news service Energetyka24, citing data from Polish grid operator PSE. Poland is the EU country most dependent on coal. In 2023, 25% of electricity was generated from renewables. Total electricity generation rose by around 3% compared with the previous year, while consumption grew by about 2.6%. Wind generation in the first half of 2024 was up 23% on the same period last year, while generation from other renewables rose by almost 35%. Over the same period, electricity generation from hard coal fell by 7%.

• The European Commission has approved Poland's plan to use around EUR 194 million in EU funds to build an offshore wind terminal at the seaport of Gdańsk. The terminal will make it easier to install and service wind turbines at Poland's first offshore wind farm, Baltic Power. Construction is due to begin this year.

• Security of energy supply – Poland's National Security Bureau (BBN), together with President Andrzej Duda (Andrzej Duda), submitted recommendations for a new security strategy to the government. Among the recommendations on security of energy supply, the bureau cited the need to strengthen the protection and reliability of the electricity generation and supply system. The proposed measures include investment in energy storage, the delivery of large and small nuclear programmes, the use of renewable energy at sea and offshore, and the development and implementation of a strategic programme for decentralised energy. Many of the security considerations have been taken up in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as Russia has recently stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

• Environmental protection – Poland has announced plans to create 14 "community forests" to help establish so-called "green rings" around major cities. The forests will provide places for recreation while helping to meet the government's commitment to keep 20% of the "most valuable forest areas" out of logging plans.