Poland Solar Capacity Will Reach 20GW

Recently, the Polish grid operator said that it is expected that the installed solar capacity in Poland will reach 20GW this summer, which will help it cope with its power demand, because some coal-fired power plants may face water cooling problems due to drought.

Most of Poland ’s electricity comes from coal-fired power generation, some of which use river water to cool down. The country's total installed power capacity is nearly 47GW.

As Poland is ready to deal with the worst drought in decades, the coal mining and energy sectors are huge water users. In the past, heat waves, droughts, and unplanned power plant maintenance have caused serious power supply problems.

Power grid operator PSE said the total installed capacity of power plants that use river water to cool down is about 3.55GW, while the total installed capacity of coal-fired power plants is about 34GW.

As of April 1, 2020, Poland's solar installed capacity increased by 180% year-on-year, reaching nearly 1.7GW.