Poland will run out of energy. The estimates are not optimistic

Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne published the “Development plan for meeting the current and future demand for electricity for the years 2025 – 2034”. It shows that next year there may be a gap in available capacity of 1.4 GW, and in the following years the problem will only deepen.

Will there be a power outage in Poland?

The report takes into account all planned investments in power units and energy storage facilities. A gradual development of renewable energy sources is also expected to reach 67.4 GW in 2040. At the same time, a pessimistic variant was adopted in which some coal-fired power plants would become unprofitable in mid-2025.

What are the conclusions? Not the best. Already in 2025, there may be a gap in available capacity of 1.4 GW. However, this is only the beginning of the problem, because if there are no new investments, there may be a shortage of 3.2 GW of power in 2031, and in 2040 even 13.6 GW.

Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne warns that in reality the problem may be even bigger. Much depends on the demand for electricity, which may grow faster than forecasts. An additional difficulty may be the faster closure of power plants. Therefore, according to the authors of the report, it is necessary to provide additional sources of power, including:

• gas power plants
• new energy storage facilities and further development of renewable energy sources
• new biomass and biogas power plants
• nuclear power plants
• extension of the operation of existing coal units
• hydrogen technologies and alternative fuels
• energy import
• forms of demand reduction in extreme cases

PSE SA is a sole-shareholder joint-stock company of the State Treasury. The scope of activity of Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne SA is the provision of electricity transmission services, while maintaining the required operational security criteria of the National Power System (NPS).