As Minister Kurtyka emphasised during his speech, the guiding idea of the Polish government is the need to provide cheap energy, available to the general public, which at the same time would be technologically neutral.

Our transformation must also ensure national energy security, which is the highest priority for each country in the world. It is worth noting that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe share the view that the decarbonisation and gradual withdrawal from the use of solid fossil fuels cannot be achieved by implementing solutions that limit the competitiveness of the European Union and by abandoning proven technologies,

he said.

The Minister of Climate and Environment also pointed out that the energy transition must be fair and carried out at the lowest possible cost, so as not to ignore anyone, especially the so-called fragile consumers.

In Poland we have adopted the Energy Policy of Poland until 2040 which responds to the challenge of ensuring the pace of decarbonisation in a rational and responsible manner. The above-mentioned policy aims at energy security, while ensuring the competitiveness of the economy; energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of energy, while making optimal use of our own energy resources,

he said.

During the conference, Minister Kurtyka stated that the balance of power must ensure the stability of energy supply and flexibility of the electricity system’s operation, as well as the fulfilment of international obligations and the response to changes in the energy market and to the global trends.

That is why we want Poland will have by 2040 an almost new electricity system, which will largely be based on low-carbon sources. This will require us to invest heavily in both manufacturing and network infrastructure. Renewable sources will play an increasingly important role as they will account for not less than 32% of net national energy consumption in 2030 and in 2040 for about 40%, which will be possible in particular thanks to the development of the photovoltaics and the offshore wind farms,

said Minister Kurtyka.

 In order to achieve this level of RES in the balance, it is necessary to develop network infrastructure, energy storage technologies and to increase the use of gas units as regulatory power. Along investing in renewable energy sources, we will have to invest also in stable gas and nuclear capacities,

he added.

As the Minister summarised, nuclear energy will play an important role in mitigating climate change and may become the pillar of energy security in the world.

Nuclear energy provides electricity supplies regardless of weather conditions, without CO2 emissions, and its other environmental impacts are comparable to renewable technologies,

he stressed.