Poland’s energy transition represents a historic opportunity, with investments totalling hundreds of billions of zlotys. However, a fundamental change in mindset is required for this process to be successful: a shift from a reactive and chaotic approach to a strategic and integrated one. In this article, Łukasz Młynarkiewicz analyses the key barriers and shows how they can be transformed into an impulse for building a modern and secure energy sector based on a stable ecosystem.

Law as an operating system, not a maze with pitfalls

The current legal environment in Poland poses one of the biggest challenges to long-term infrastructure projects. Investors are struggling with ‘legislative inflation’, whereby constant political pressure results in unstable and unpredictable regulations being established. For projects with a life cycle of several decades, such chaos creates enormous risks and costs.

The solution lies not so much in deregulation, but in a change in the philosophy of law-making. We should begin to view the law as a kind of platform, or even an operating system. This would consist of:

The key is to move away from legislation based on intuition towards legislation based on data and evidence. Rather than consulting on finished drafts, the market and the public should be involved in creating them from the outset. Only then will the law become an instrument that supports development rather than hinders it.

Renewable energy sources trapped in the grid. How can green energy be unlocked?

Poland has enormous renewable energy potential, but the system is preventing it from being realised. The biggest barrier is not a lack of sun or wind, but an outdated and inefficient grid infrastructure designed decades ago for a centralised system, which is unable to cope with thousands of dispersed sources. This results in new projects with enormous capacity being refused connection on a massive scale.

How can this deadlock be broken? Action is needed at two levels:

Nuclear power: A great opportunity, but the devil is in the detail

The Polish nuclear energy programme, which fortunately enjoys growing support, is a step in the right direction. However, the vision alone is not enough. For the project to be successful, the updated strategy needs to be refined in several key areas, such as:

Polish capital: We have an opportunity to build an ecosystem, not just a list of suppliers

Discussions about the participation of Polish companies in the energy transition, particularly in the nuclear project, often centre on percentages. However, this is a distraction because the main goal should be for Polish companies to use individual projects as a stepping stone to enter the global supply chain, rather than trying to gain a specific share in them.

Rather than fighting over percentages, we should develop integrated industrial ecosystems centred on key technologies. One example is the ‘Pomeranian Offshore Hub’, which will connect ports, factories, research centres and service companies. This is the only way to build strong Polish capital that can compete internationally. The role of advisors and lawyers is therefore to develop smart contractual frameworks that will enable the creation of such clusters.

Fortress 360: How can we protect a nuclear power plant in the 21st century?

Security at nuclear power plants is another key area that requires the development of an integrated, multi-level shield to protect such strategic facilities in the following four dimensions:

People – the most important infrastructure

In our efforts to modernise the energy sector, we often focus on steel and concrete. However, it is the skills gap that is the real bottleneck and the biggest challenge. There is a global war for talent: nuclear engineers, network cybersecurity specialists, and managers capable of leading megaprojects are in high demand.

We must start treating human capital as an integral part of critical infrastructure, on a par with transmission networks. Without strategic investment in people, even the best technologies and largest funds will not suffice. Therefore, industrial policy must be inextricably linked to education policy. Otherwise, we will build a colossus with feet of clay.