The Polish Energy Market is Moving Faster than the Government: Turning Green

From the Polish Institute for Renewable Energy:

Poland stresses the importance of the coal sector and at the same time fighting for "the rehabilitation of coal" in Europe and improve the operation of coal mining in Silesia. The role of coal in the economy is not so big. Revenues from the sale of coal in the national GDP is less than 1.4%, while that for the renewable energy market in 2013 exceeded 1.3% of GDP. Gramwzielone

Every year this trend will get stronger and it is occurring despite the Polish Government, not because of it. The underlying factors strongly favor the continuation of the increasingly role of green energy and the declining role of coal. Beyond the problems of Polish coal  (which are themselves impossible to underestimate), it is quicker to build green energy production than any conventional plant (except natural gas, which is largely moot now). The premium for green energy is less each year as the "cross over" point nears on many RES technologies. Finally a new emerging shift in mentality is occurring, more and more Polish individuals and companies operating in Poland are thinking about RES in a favorable light. This is despite a drumbeat of criticism from the ruling party (finding itself out of step and out of tune on this issue as it is on many others). 

Coal remains a labor intensive sector with huge political connections (beyond the unions is the large number of state-appointed "executives" that get big salaries in black energy companies owned by the government). Of course, the more the state is involving in ownership of enterprises, the more chances there are for kick-backs and corruption as well. Besides coal production, there is the huge number of jobs and GDP contribution of Polish coal-fired power plants. Yet this elaborate house of cards is coming apart from the bottom up. The political party allegedly pro-free market is finding that the free market has a mind of its own and does not play favorites. 

As Pogo famously say in the American cartoon strip, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." Traditional Polish politicians seem destined to learn this the hard way. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  TWITTER LINKS FOR THREADS OF RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE (UPDATED November 2023) NOTE: IF thread does not open automatically, copy link and paste to open Not Our war?    Ukraine aid is not major budget issue No one is making Ukrainians fight "Mighty Russia"? The Two Armies The war is not an unbreakable stalemate The United States does not provide proportionally more aid  Things Some Republicans Get Wrong The MAGA disconnect Russia is Losing Badly Bogus Tucker Carlson claims You have been lied to Debunk of bioweapons claim Zelensky thread Aid auditing & control UKR weapons inspections & tracking   Ukraine Nazi rebuttal WEF thread   RM propaganda thread   Fake war
Read more
Image
                     CAN REPUBLICANS ENDURE THE COST OF  NOT  SU PPORTING UKRAINE?                                                                         Randy M. Mott [i] Originally written in October 2022      At this point in time, the Ukrainian army is humiliating Putin’s army and dramatically reversing his invasion. Displaying incredible courage and at the same time patience, the Ukrainian soldiers have quickly learned mastery over NATO and especially American weapons that have made the difference on the battlefield. Long-range precision artillery and rocket fire have offset the Russian advantage in the number of guns, then have overwhelmed their command-and-control centers, ammo dumps and now troop concentrati...
Read more

Hitting Reality: Polish Energy Policy Meets the Facts

Image
     At some point, facts matter. In the end, reality has a way of asserting itself. Senator Everett Dirksen (for whom a US Senate office building is now named) was asked on one election night to comment on his early lead in the voting. He told the story of two Irishmen working on a fifteen story building. O'Malley falls off the top floor and his colleague O'Reilly starts running down the stairwell to try to help him. O'Reilly sticks his head out and yells to O'Malley, "how is it going?" O'Malley says "so far, so good...." as his sails to the ground below.     Many political myths employed by politicians in Poland on national energy policy are about to hit the ground as well . Because the Economic Summit is in Katowice this week, we will hear all about the importance of coal to Poland. An historical fact, for sure. But a ever-diminishing premise at this point. Less Polish coal is mined every year. Polish coal costs more to mine and is of po...
Read more