As Vice-Minister Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński pointed out, the “Polish energy policy until 2040” takes into account the changes in the energy mix, as well as the need to ensure energy security, just transition and recovery in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, as well as the optimal use of Poland's own energy resources.

The transition is a response not only to the EU climate policy, but more importantly to society's environmental and climate ambitions. Poland is fully committed to reducing emissions and modernising its economy in a sustainable manner; however, our difficult starting point and circumstances faced by Poland pose a tremendous challenge, which requires significant investment and time

- he explained.

According to the Vice-Minister, Poland faces an enormous transition, which is going to result in an overhauled energy system, along with the transformation of the heating and transport sectors within the upcoming two decades.

The 2040 Plan is a response to the challenge of ensuring the pace of decarbonisation in a rational and responsible manner, and which does not lead to excessive burdens on household budgets, thus worsening fuel poverty, weakening regional and national economies and degrading industries

- he said.

While lowering the emissions resulting from Polish energy mix, we want to take advantage of various opportunities, including renewables, nuclear energy and natural gas, which will aid the transition efforts

- he added.

Vice-Minister Guibourgé-Czetwertyński also pointed out that natural gas will play an important role in Poland's energy transition.

Poland sees the transition to gas as a great opportunity to immediately halve emissions from power and heating sectors

- he noted.

During the talks, Vice-Minister Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński also raised the issue of taxonomy and stressed that Poland does not agree with excluding gas from the currently pending delegated act on taxonomy.

If the European Commission is not ready at this time to present a satisfactory compromise proposal, it should delay publication until a comprehensive solution for the energy sector is reached. The delegated act on taxonomy needs to provide a comprehensive toolkit for a sustainable transition, applicable to the whole energy sector. Otherwise, it could lead to serious uncertainty for financial institutions, investors and businesses, and thus jeopardise the energy transition in the coming years

- he pointed out.

Development of RES

During his conversation with Andreas Feicht, Secretary of State at the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy, Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński, Vice-Minister of Climate and Environment also pointed out that renewable energy is to play a key role in the Polish energy system overhaul. By 2030 Poland intends to generate a third of its electricity from renewable sources – by 2040, this rate is supposed to go up 40%.

The total installed capacity of RES power generation units will reach about 23-25 GW in 2030, meaning that it will be double the installed capacity compared to 2020. We also see enormous opportunities in the development of offshore wind energy. The installed capacity in Polish projects may reach 5.9 GW in 2030 and about 11 GW in 2040

- he said.

We also support the development of RES at a local level, in particular focusing on prosumers by increasing public participation in the transition and allowing them to maximise the benefits. We are currently witnessing unprecedented dynamics of PV energy generation growth, coupled with activation of energy consumers. We want to continue this positive trend in the future

- he said.