Poland Added About 4 GW Of Solar Power In 2024 – CleanTechnica

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It was reported recently that Poland was on track to add about 4 gigawatts (GW) of solar power in 2024. Though, the final numbers are not yet available. Apparently, in November 2024, it was short about 0.3 GW, which means it was on schedule for a total of about 4 GW by the end of the  year.

“Large-scale solar reportedly made up most of the nearly 4 GW. One of the reasons for large-scale project development, apart from economy of scale and low cost, is the possibility for grid connection to Polish TSO, which can host more new PV capacity than Polish DSO,” said Grzegorz Wiśniewski, president of the board of the Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (IEO).

There may be another 19 GW in the works for Poland, and if all the projects that make up this potential upcoming solar power capacity are implemented, that will be somewhat close to a doubling of solar power.

What all this means is that Poland is doing well with new solar power. For Central/Eastern Europe, Poland is now a key player in the utility solar power space. That’s a big deal when you consider it has historically been a heavily coal-based country.

Google’s AI overview stated that one GW of solar power in Poland could provide electricity for about 750,000 homes. So, 4 GW would provide power for about 3 million homes. Of course, that applies only when there is adequate sunlight.

Poland’s population is about 36.6 million.

If by the end of 2024 Poland did have about 21 GW of solar power installed and nearly doubled that total in the next couple of years to around 40 GW, solar power would be contributing much more to the country’s power mix.

At the moment, Poland gets most of its power from fossil fuels. Though, there is a goal to achieve around 50% electricity from renewables by 2030. Fossil fuels are problematic for many reasons, and in this case too many of Poland’s are imported, which means sending a lot of money out of the country each year. Decreasing or eliminating imported fossil fuels could also support geopolitical stability.

Replacing fossil fuels with solar power is not only better for climate change and the environment. About 10 percent of children in Poland have asthma. Burning fossil fuels to make electricity generates air pollution that harms human health. Emissions from coal power plants can be especially harmful. “Among people with asthma, higher exposures to these pollutants are associated with increased symptoms and more emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths from the disease.” Seniors are also one of the most vulnerable populations for asthma.

Currently, Poland has about 68,000 battery electric vehicles. They don’t have any direct emissions because they don’t burn any fossil fuels internally. With solar power, electric vehicles can run on clean, renewable electricity. As a result, there is less toxic air pollution, benefiting the health of Polish people as well as the Polish economy.