WARSAW, March 30 (Reuters) – Poland can cut wholesale electricity prices by a half and save over $8 billion between 2026 and 2030 if it meets European Union renewable energy targets, Instrat, a Warsaw-based independent think-tank said on Thursday.
A three-fold increase in renewable capacity to nearly 65 gigawatts in 2030, in line with the EU goal to boost energy security in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is an ambitious but feasible scenario that would yield massive savings on costs of fuels, emissions and electricity imports, Instrat said.
In a business as usual scenario, in 2026-2030 Polish renewable capacity will more than double. But, compared with the EU target, that would be at the cost of higher electricity prices and 2.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually the country would need to supply enough power.
While Poland backtracked on a plan to boost onshore wind capacity amid the ruling party’s reluctance to ease their development ahead of elections this year, the government is working on more ambitious green energy targets and the opposition favours easing the rules.
Poland now has 21 gigawatts of installed wind and solar capacity, which covered 17.4% electricity demand in 2022.
Boosting the potential to nearly 65 gigawatts at the end of the decade requires a removal of investment barriers and an “historical” increase in power distribution grid capacity, Instrat said.
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