POLICY DRIVES COAL-POWERED POLAND TO WIND

Race to Beat Polish Subsidy Cuts Drives Wind-Project Push

Konrad Krasuski and Marek Strzelecki, February 7, 2014 (Bloomberg News)

“Poland, where 90 percent of power comes from coal, may be an unlikely clean-energy hub. Yet wind capacity that almost doubled in two years is set to grow further as developers rush to start projects before subsidies change…[Developers are] racing to get projects under way before Poland cuts subsidies -- potentially in 2015 -- and starts auctions for fixed-price contracts to drive down prices for renewable energy. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has pledged to stem increases in consumer power bills while meeting a European Union mandate to clean up emissions from electricity generation…The Economy Ministry expects to cut subsidies by more than 2.4 billion zloty ($780 million) in 2015, reducing power prices for consumers by 26 percent to 20 zloty a megawatt-hour…Germany, France, Spain, Britain and Italy have all trimmed clean-energy subsidies after a boom in installations drove up power costs for consumers. Investments in renewables in Europe fell 41 percent to $57.8 billion last year…” click here for more

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