Poland to establish energy transition ministry

The Polish government will set up a new Ministry of Energy Transition if the ruling camp secures its third consecutive term in power following October’s elections, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Sunday (3 September).

On the 43rd anniversary of the key agreements between then-communist power and workers, as well as the 35th anniversary of miners’ strikes that had a key role in the collapse of communism in Poland, Morawiecki chose to highlight the contemporary challenges for the Polish energy sector.

To find “a proper answer” for those challenges, the government will establish a new ministry dealing with the energy transition of the mining sector and the whole economy, “if only the voters allow us to continue our mission” after October’s elections, he said.

Those organisational changes “would serve to facilitate the dialogue” aimed at strengthening “the social deal” with Polish miners that is “important and binding” for the ruling camp, the prime minister argued.

The Energy Ministry has already existed in the government of the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. It was founded in 2015, the year PiS came to power, with the only Energy Minister being Krzysztof Tchórzewski.

After the 2019 elections, the competencies of the Energy Ministry were overtaken by the Ministry of State Assets when it comes to supervising energy and mining companies and the Ministry of Climate and Environment when it comes to shaping energy policy.

As reported by Business Insider, Morawiecki’s announcement may be a consequence of the recent controversy over the new, greener strategy of the Polish Energy Group (PGE), the country’s largest power-producing company.

Poland keeps coal phase-out target as top utility PGE seeks quicker exit

Poland is not planning a quicker end to using coal, the government said on Wednesday (30 August), criticising state-controlled utility PGE for bringing forward its carbon neutrality target by a decade to 2040.

Under the strategy, PGE would cease to burn coal until 2030, and its assets responsible for the biggest emissions, including coal power plants, would be overtaken by the National Energy Security Agency (NABE). By doing this, PGE would get rid of the coal ballast, giving over the responsibility over old plants to the state.

This sparked backlash from the mining sector, as miners, concerned for the future of the coal mines amid the inevitable energy transition, demanded a dismissal of the PGE’s chairman and board. According to Business Insider, their narrative was taken up by some PiS politicians.

The social deal mentioned by Morawiecki is the agreement between the government and miners, according to which the last coal plants would be closed in 2049.

Poland remains one of the EU’s most coal-dependent countries. According to Polish Energy Networks (PSE), Poland produced 12 395 GWh of energy in July 2023, 64.9% from coal, 9.5% from wind farms, 15.7% from other renewables and 8% from gas plants.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)

Read more with Euractiv

French senate president wants constitutional reform, referendum on immigration