Growing imports of gas, coal and electricity. Increasing importance of gas in the energy mix and stagnation in RES. Increase in greenhouse gas emissions. These are the most important conclusions from this year's edition of the report "Energy Transition in Poland" prepared by the Forum Energii. Full report in English will be available soon. 

The national energy and climate plans and their assessment (objectives, instruments, financing) by the European Commission are a major qualitative change in the process of developing and implementing the EU energy and climate policy. Until now, energy and climate targets have been scattered across many pieces of legislation and are now linked by the overarching objective of climate neutrality in 2050 resulting from the Paris Agreement.

The National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030  is the second strategic document for the Polish energy sector in addition to the long-awaited Poland’s Energy Policy until 2040. It will affect, among other things, investments in the energy sector, the implementation of our international commitments, energy security and improvement of air quality. Therefore, it should not only describe the current state of the Polish energy sector, but above all define future objectives and determine measures and actions to achieve them.

Flexibility of the power system means its ability to maintain uninterrupted operation under conditions of rapid and huge fluctuations in electricity consumption generation. It is an inherent part of the system design and control of its operation. In the analysis, Forum Energii puts forward solutions supporting the improvement of  the national power system flexibility. In addition to reducing the costs of the power sector and the improvement in quality and reliability of the electricity supply, their objective is to reduce emissions by the power sector.

This is the first time such an unexpected turn of events has occurred in the energy sector. The government lost control of the strategic economy sector and seems surprised with the increase in prices and rising import of coal, gas and electricity. This unexpected situation has led to huge astonishment at a time when elections are imminent. 

Probable delays of the nuclear energy project, insufficient attention to energy costs and the risk of non-compliance with EU climate and energy targets – these are some of the comments of Forum Energii on the draft Poland’s Energy Policy.

Negotiations on the EU regulation on the electricity market were concluded on  December 19, 2018. For Poland it was the last and most controversial element of the Winter Package. Since 2017, the European Parliament and the Council discussed how to formulate regulations introducing a CO2 emission limit of 550 g/kWh of electricity produced. They are to apply to the capacity markets.

Today, the Ministry of Energy presented the State Energy Policy outline for consultation – a welcome announcement. We consider this a basis for public discussion, in which energy and environmental experts, business representatives and the broader society alike should participate. Energy affects all of our lives. Particularly at times of high energy prices we have to think about what to do next.

On November 15, 2018 PSE S.A. (state owned transmission system operator in Poland) held the first auction as part of the new scheme of remunerating capacity, that is a capacity market. The auction secured 22.7 GW for 2021 for a total amount of over 5 billion PLN (over 1,2 billion EUR). The cost of the capacity scheme appears significantly higher than the 4 billion the Ministry of Energy assumed for the year. 

The draft amendment to the Energy Law (October 2018) prepares the implementation of the EU requirement to submit integrated national plans in the field of energy and climate. The regulations proposed in this form, however, lower the rank of the national energy policy. They also change the mode of appointing the President of the Energy Regulatory Office, which may affect its independence. This is worrying.