Poland expects solar energy to help meet demand in summer heat

WARSAW: Poland sees its capacity in solar energy rising to 2 gigawatts (GW) this summer, which will help it respond to the demand for power when some of its coal-fuelled power plants may face issues with water cooling due to expected drought, grid operator said.

Poland generates most of its electricity from burning coal in power stations, some of which use river waters for cooling. The country’s total installed electrical capacity is almost 47 GW.

Since Poland readies for the worst drought in decades, with coal mining and energy sectors being huge water consumers, questions about power supplies arise. Heatwave, drought and unplanned maintenances of power plants led to serious power supply problems in the past.