The Polish government has changed its stance on the policies pursued by the European Union (EU). Poland is distancing itself from the energy transition and from support for an active climate policy. The Polish government actively promoted these at the start of its term in office; now its attitudes and decisions are shifting. As we already know, Poland declared its highest level of alert when Russian aircraft were spotted near a Polish oil platform and military drones entered Polish airspace. The Polish government has authorised its military structures to patrol beyond the country's borders in order to protect critical energy infrastructure. Poland's government also recently passed a law to shield poorer households from the higher energy bills expected this winter
The Polish government has tabled a law to implement the EU Renewable Energy Directive – RED III, but it is unclear whether President Karol Nawrocki will sign it, as he is a committed critic of the use of renewable energy sources. The presidential veto has blocked several regulations that are important for the roll-out of renewable energy, such as the liberalisation of onshore wind power and energy sector deregulation. The President recently stressed that wind farms must not be sited close to historic battlefields, of which Poland has many.
The end of Poland's climate target?
The subject of renewable energy is not included in the Ministry of Energy's work plan. Poland's National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), which sets out its contribution to meeting the EU's emissions reduction targets, must be updated by the end of 2025. Responsibility for the plan, which has to be updated every two years and submitted to the European Commission, lies with the Ministry of Energy established only this September, which could mean the end of the climate targets set out in Poland's previous draft NECP. The Ministry of Energy announced that it would draw up a “painfully pragmatic” NECP, in which natural gas would be given a greater role as a “transition fuel”. Poland's state energy companies have already announced plans to build new gas generation capacity reaching 15 gigawatts.
Poles will be able to respond
A decision has been taken that Poland's armed forces are permitted to respond beyond the country's borders in order to protect critical energy infrastructure such as cables, pipelines and platforms. The Polish and Lithuanian energy grid operators are working together to protect the energy bridge that links the Baltic states, via Poland, to the rest of the continental system. This connection is essential to the energy transition, because electricity flows constantly between the regions and infrastructure of this kind opens up the possibility of joint renewable energy projects in the Baltic Sea. The cooperation could help to bring down electricity prices in the connected markets as a result of the energy transition. The Baltic states used to be an “energy island”, effectively isolated from the rest of the European Union. Thanks to synchronisation via Poland since 2025, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are now connected to the common continental system.
Poland's prime minister criticises the European Union, while the President refuses to back the wind energy bill
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has criticised the European Union for holding back economic development through “overly strict climate regulations”. He objected to “any new rules that reduce the competitiveness of businesses” when “others are not doing the same”. The President stressed that the EU should not be the world's leader in climate policy. Incidentally, during the 2023 parliamentary election campaign, Donald Tusk's “Civic Coalition” party was one of the most active supporters of Europe's energy transition and of an ambitious climate policy. Since then, D. Tusks has changed his position quite sharply, in light of growing dissatisfaction with the economy and the rising political support for Eurosceptics in Poland. The “Confederation” party, which has openly criticised European climate policy, now ranks third in the polls. Poland's governing parties — the centrist “Civic Coalition” and the right-wing “Law and Justice” — are of course fighting for voters. Politicians sense that Polish Euroscepticism continues to grow.
The roll-out of wind energy has reached a dead end, because President Karol Nawrocki has rejected a bill that would have eased the restrictions on onshore wind power stations in Poland, objecting to amendments that would allow wind turbines to be built closer to inhabited areas. The government has proposed a way to circumvent the veto by introducing new repowering and permitting rules through a government regulation, which would leave the President no opportunity to block the decision, while existing wind power stations would be unaffected.
Heating vouchers
Poland's parliament has passed a law providing for what are known as heating vouchers and freezing energy prices at their current level. The law will continue to cap energy prices at 500 zloty per megawatt hour (roughly 120 euro/MWh) and will introduce heating vouchers, a one-off subsidy for people in the lowest income groups in 2026. Household heating tariffs are expected to rise next year. The introduction of the heating vouchers was a precondition for the Polish President to support the bill put forward by the government.
Environmental activists protest against Nord Stream
Polish and Ukrainian Greenpeace activists staged a picket near the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea to protest against its possible reconstruction and against the continued extraction and use of fossil gas. In the environmental activists' view, there is no point in swapping one fossil gas trader for another, since future action ought to be directed towards a much faster energy transition. This is rather “interesting” in both the Polish and the German context, since Germany, for example, plans to rely heavily on natural gas precisely during the transition period.
Electricity storage at Lake Żarnowiec
The Polish energy company Polska Grupa Energetyczna has begun building an electricity storage system at Lake Żarnowiec. This is a historic site in Pomerania not far from the Baltic Sea, where Poland's first nuclear power station once stood. The project, begun in 1982, was halted with the collapse of the communist regime in 1989. The battery unit at Żarnowiec will have one of the largest storage capacities in Europe, reaching 262 megawatt hours.