POLAND

Poland ranks eleventh in operational coal capacity globally, but, in April 2025, coal accounted for less than half of the country's electricity production for the first time. The milestone was attributed to record low production at Poland's coal plants. Poland does retain a large existing coal fleet, and one additional coal unit is under construction, which may be the last new coal unit that the region sees. All other proposed coal capacity has been cancelled in recent years following rising carbon prices, residential opposition, and other forces.

The government initially planned to restructure the energy sector with a spin-off of coal assets, but this plan was aborted in 2025. Still, the government is using state aid to keep the state-owned coal mining company PGG operating until 2049.

In 2021, Poland signed the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement at the COP26 meeting, but it later claimed developing country status despite being one of the world's biggest economies. Poland confirmed that it will maintain its desperately late 2049 hard coal phaseout date.

As an EU member state, Poland is covered by the European Union’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (“NDC 3.0”), submitted in November 2025, which introduces an indicative 2035 emissions reduction target, reinforces the phase-down of unabated coal power, and reaffirms the objective of climate neutrality by 2050.

In June 2021, Eastern Wielkopolska – a major lignite mining region home to two coal plants – bucked the country's trend and became the first region in Poland to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA). The region aims to end the use of coal in the energy and heating sectors by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. The Koszalin, Wałbrzych, and Wielkopolska regions joined the PPCA between 2021 and 2023. Katowice, the largest remaining coal production region in the country, joined at the beginning of 2025. As of December 2025, however, 48 coal-fired units in Poland lacked a known planned retirement date.