Poland’s energy transition is gaining momentum, and although it still lacks coherent and strategic policy documents to guide it. there are now tangible results: in 2024, coal’s share in electricity production fell to a record low of 56.2%. At the same time, the role of renewable energy sources (RES) is growing, with their share in electricity generation reaching 29.4%. However, the development of RES continues to be hindered by legislative barriers and a lack of institutional coordination (among ministries, regulators, system operators, and local governments). Poland has completely stopped importing gas and coal from Russia but is becoming increasingly dependent on other suppliers—in 2023, energy imports reached 45%. The eighth edition of the report Energy Transition in Poland. Edition 2025 by Forum Energii shows that while change is happening, it remains inconsistent, costly, and insufficient in the face of current challenges. 

In the first six months of this year, Poland wasted the potential to generate nearly 800 GWh of electricity from renewable energy sources—more than in the entire year of 2024. The growing mismatch between energy consumption and the output of wind and solar power plants is driving up the cost of operating the system month by month. Meanwhile, demand for electricity is increasing during the winter when there is less sunlight and some days are windless. At the same time, costly and depreciated coal units are approaching decommissioning. Two key needs emerge: making the system more flexible, and encouraging investments in new capacity that can operate effectively under the new system. These challenges, along with an analysis of the relationship between capacity adequacy and system flexibility, and recommendations for a reformed capacity market, are addressed in the latest report by Forum Energii, developed in cooperation with Magnus Energy, a pan-European energy transition consultancy, titled Capacity and Flexibility: What Kind of Capacity Market Does a Modern Power System Need?

Poland has just completed its presidential elections, yet strategic decisions regarding the future of the energy sector—including the development of new generation capacities (notably renewables) and the modernisation of district heating—still await resolution. The revision of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and a strategy for the heating sector are also still pending. In response to the need for a deeper debate on the direction of Poland’s energy transition, Forum Energii has published a new report entitled The Time for Investment: Insights from Energy System Modelling for Poland 2040.

The capacity market is a system of public support to maintain dispatchable capacity in the Polish electricity system. It was introduced in 2018, with the approval of the European Commission, because coal-fired power plants were no longer making money for themselves. It could have initiated the creation of new dispatchable and flexible capacity, but after eight auctions so far, it is mainly old coal units that are benefiting. Now the capacity mechanism needs to be redesigned to give an impetus to new, flexible investments replacing coal. We present our take on how to organise a new capacity market in Poland.