Speaking Saturday at a solar farm in Kleczew, central Poland, Tusk said such investments help meet obligations to future generations by producing clean energy, arguing the case for renewables is practical rather than ideological.
He also announced that next week officials will reveal the site from which Poland will send out its first-ever electricity from offshore wind farms, a project he said he was "very pleased" would launch within days.
The Kleczew solar and wind farm, expanded between 2024 and 2026, now has a capacity of almost 270 MW – enough to power up to 100,000 households.
It combines 445,000 solar panels with four wind turbines, built on reclaimed land once used for lignite mining.
Kleczew is now home to Poland's largest solar farm, though a bigger one, already under construction in Lower Silesia, is expected to overtake it.
Asked about the location of Poland's second nuclear plant, Tusk said Bełchatów and Konin were comparable options in terms of geography, geology and their shared move away from conventional energy.
He said the final call would rest with experts using transparent, objective technical and geological criteria, to rule out any political influence.
The Polish energy ministry updated its nuclear programme in June, still naming Bełchatów and Konin as preferred sites.
A technology and construction partner is due to be picked in 2027, with the exact location confirmed in 2028.
Construction is set to begin in 2032, with the first reactor running by 2040.
Moving on from coal
Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka criticised the previous government for spending PLN 1 billion (EUR 233 million) on new coal units in Ostrołęka, saying the current coalition has worked to overhaul that plan through investment and legislation.
He said the government is pursuing the biggest energy law reform in Poland's history, with PLN 100 billion (EUR 23.3 billion) earmarked by 2030 for grid and transmission upgrades and energy storage projects – 60-90 percent of which will involve domestic companies.
Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska, an MP for the Konin region, said the area should keep producing energy, adding that EU Just Transition Fund money is helping retrain people who once worked in coal power.
The Konin region has relied on lignite mining and coal for decades, but the local mine, run by ZE PAK, is now being wound down, with extraction ending this year.
The company, the region's biggest employer, expects to cut around 700 jobs by the end of 2026.
(ał)
Source: PAP