Debates on development, investment and innovation

As the Vice-Minister of Climate Ireneusz Zyska pointed out during the “Growth, investments, innovations” debate, Poland is currently the third largest hydrogen producer in Europe and the fifth in the world.

We already know that hydrogen will be one of the key fuels powering EU's energy sector transformation. The switch to alternate fuels seems unavoidable at this point in time, as the emission reduction targets and the costs incurred due to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme force us to look for new, cleaner solutions, the Vice-Minister emphasised.

Vice-Minister Zyska also pointed out that the funds that Poland will receive to combat the economic impact COVID-19 create an opportunity for it to play a significant role in building a clean, safe and sustainable economy thanks to investments in RES and green hydrogen. Because of that, hydrogen will enable achieving a circular, emission-free economy.

Hydrogen is undoubtedly the future of the Polish economy, which is why it is our intention to involve as many actors as possible in the process of public consultations for our draft Polish Hydrogen Strategy, which will be announced this autumn, he concluded.

On renewable energy sources

During the “Offshore and RES as priority development directions” debate, Vice-Minister Zyska highlighted that the development of renewable energy sources (RES) is one of the key priorities of the Polish energy and climate transformation.

We are taking decisive actions in the area of development of new RES in Poland. Solar energy in particular sees a very dynamic growth, exceeding our targets set to date, he claimed.

The Government Plenipotentiary for RES explained that the total installed capacity of solar installations in July 2020 amounted to 2648.3 MW (an increase of 264.6% year on year) – this corresponds to about a quarter of the total installed capacity of all RES installations.

Vice-Minister Zyska also noted that the development of offshore wind energy is one of the strategic directions of the current draft of the Polish Energy Policy for 2040.

We are currently working in the Ministry of Climate to create conditions for the development of offshore wind energy, through legislative work and support for the national supply chain, he added.

Moreover, in his speech, Vice-Minister Zyska pointed out that the dynamics of development of prosumer micro installations has also increased significantly. According to the latest data, at the end of the first half of 2020, the installed capacity of these installations reached over 1.7 GW, an increase of nearly 750 MW compared to the end of 2019. The number of installations alone increased by nearly 110,000 in the same period and now amounts to over 260,000.