(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the transition to clean energy sources could boost Poland’s future economic growth, a sign his government is getting serious about phasing out coal in the country.
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Speaking at the opening of an economic congress in Sopot, Tusk said his government will invest 70 billion zloty ($17.7 billion) over the next decade to modernize the power grid, modernize wind farms to add 6 gigawatts of capacity and a financial to find an investor for a planned investment. second nuclear power plant.
Due to its dependence on coal, Poland currently faces some of the highest electricity prices in the European Union, a factor that could undermine its competitiveness after years of rapid economic growth.
Tusk came to power promising to accelerate the transition to clean energy, but his government has so far done little to deliver on this promise. In a speech to mark the first year since the ruling coalition won parliamentary elections, the Polish prime minister appeared to put the plan back on the agenda.
Tusk said the expansion of renewable energy sources, including the construction of offshore wind farms, could become a decisive factor in increasing access to energy and lowering its prices.
“We don’t really have any other special means to make Polish energy cheaper,” Tusk told the audience in Sopot, northern Poland, on Wednesday. “We are not talking about ideology, but about people and their interests.”
–With help from Natalia Ojewska and Agnieszka Barteczko.
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