Dispatch from Poland | March 2025

Stories to watch in the weeks ahead

• Work on the National Energy and Climate Plan continues dragging on, but the climate ministry said the document should be finished during the first half of the year. Another round of public consultation concluded in late February, and it should become clear in the next months if any changes will be made to the plan, after which it will be put to a vote in the Council of Ministers. Poland is already several months late in submitting the plan to the European Commission, which requested plans from all countries in the bloc. On 12 March, the Commission formally called on Poland – alongside 4 other countries that missed the submission deadline – to send the final update of the plan within two months or they would face a case in the Court of Justice of the European Union.

• After a winter with little snow, Poland has had a very dry February and almost no rain in the first 10 days of March. There is an unusually low rate of flow in several rivers,and hydrological drought has been declared in several regions of central and eastern Poland. A state of hydrological drought – an extremely low level of surface water, affecting rivers and lakes – typically occurs in the summer months and is very unusual during winter. The state geological survey issued a hydrogeological emergency warning for 11 of the 16 regions in the country, meaning a possible water shortage due to a low level of groundwaters. Unless there is sustained rainfall throughout the spring, a drought could severely impact agriculture this year.

The latest from Poland – last month in recap

• After months of work and anticipation, the onshore wind farm bill has been given the green light by the standing committee of the Council of Ministers. After a vote by the full council, the bill will go to parliament. An amendment to the law eliminates the 10H rule – which restricted the construction of wind farms within a distance of buildings equalling ten times the turbines’ height – and replaces it with a regulation that would allow a minimum distance of 500 metres between wind turbines and buildings. The amendment also simplifies the process of replacing old turbines with new ones. The government and industry both hope onshore deployment will speed up after the changes are implemented.

• Onshore wind is struggling in Poland, but the same cannot be said for offshore wind. In January and February, the foundations for the first offshore wind farms in Polish waters were built by state-owned oil company Orlen and Canadian company Northland Power. The Baltic Power wind farm will have almost 80 turbines with 15 megawatts of capacity each. Electricity should start flowing from the first turbines in 2026, and after completion, the wind farm will provide power for 1.5 million households, according to the companies.

• The Polish government has voted for a bill that secures initial financing for the country’s first nuclear power plant in a nearly unanimous vote – with only one Green MP opposing it. The government will spend 60 billion PLN (14.5 billion euros) to cover part of the estimated 46 billion euros in total construction costs, with the remaining funds coming from financial markets. While the project has widespread political support in Poland, the finance bill still has to get the all-clear from the EU, which will now check it doesn’t violate state aid rules. The government is looking to “speed up” talks with the European Commission to make sure construction is not delayed.

 Patryk’s picks – highlights from upcoming events and top reads

• Read this interview with Krzysztof Bolesta, deputy minister of climate, in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna to gain insight into the Polish government’s perspective on changes to EU climate action initiatives such as the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), the expended European emissions trading system ETS 2 and the Omnibus Bill for adjusting company reporting rules and other sustainability criteria in finance.

• On 2 April, there will be an event on energy and security in the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU, Brussels. Co-hosted by Polish think-tank The Energy Forum, the conference Sustainable energy security. Learnt from the past, ready for the future will feature remarks from Ditte Juul Jørgensen, director general of Energy for the European Commission, Krzysztof Bolesta, the Polish deputy minister for climate and environment and Wojciech Wrochna, the Polish deputy minister of industry. Online attendance is also possible.

• The Think2030 Dialogue Poland – Towards a Sustainable and Secure Europe conference will take place on 28 March at the Central House of Technology in Warsaw. The programme has dialogues on the Clean Industrial Deal, ETS 2 and agriculture, with officials from Poland and the EU, businesses and NGO leaders in attendance.

• The Polish Climate Congress, organised by the Polish NGO European Foundation for Sustainable Investment, will be held in Warsaw on 25-26 March. Several government officials – including climate minister Paulina Hennig Kloska – and business leaders are among the confirmed guests.