Poland prepares largest energy modernization in history

Poland intends to allocate about 1 trillion zlotys for energy investments over the next ten years. The funds will go toward modernizing power grids, developing renewable energy sources, nuclear generation, and other projects expected to lower electricity costs and reduce the country's dependence on imported fuel.

Poland's Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka said this in an interview with Rzeczpospolita. According to him, Poland's energy sector is headed for an investment boom, and the planned transformation will be the largest in the country's history.

One of the main spending areas will be the electricity grid infrastructure. Growing volumes of wind and solar generation require new transmission lines, transformer capacity, and a more flexible energy management system. Without modernizing the grid, connecting new power plants is becoming increasingly difficult.

Polish authorities have already launched the largest transmission network modernization program in history. Polish operator PSE plans to invest about 64 billion zlotys in new and existing transmission lines by 2034.

Nuclear energy will also be an important part of the transformation. Poland is implementing its first large nuclear power plant project, which is to be built on the Baltic Sea coast. The government sees nuclear generation as a source of stable electricity capable of complementing the rapidly growing share of renewable sources.

At the same time, state-owned energy companies are preparing large-scale programs of their own. According to Poland's Ministry of State Assets, these companies' investments over the next decade may exceed 800 billion zlotys. They cover offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, renewables, energy storage systems, grids, and new generation capacities.

The overall target of 1 trillion zlotys was publicly set by the Polish government back in the spring. In March, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that over the next decade Poland will invest that amount in energy, infrastructure, transmission lines, and power plants.

The authorities link the large-scale program not only to decarbonization. Warsaw sees the transformation of the energy system as a matter of economic competitiveness and security: more developed domestic generation should reduce the country's dependence on fluctuations in global oil and gas prices.

The Ministry of Energy also expects that new capacity and grids will help lower electricity costs for industry and households over time. However, the effect will not be immediate — a significant share of projects requires years of construction and large initial expenses.