Poland is the largest construction site in Europe, but billions may go unnoticed

• In Europe and Poland, there is a fundamental change in thinking about energy transformation.
• There is an increasingly clear understanding that energy transformation must be based on local know-how, and this also applies to support for companies operating in the green technology sector. They will be the beneficiaries of the largest investments in energy transformation in Poland's history - said Mikołaj Budzanowski, president of EIT InnoEnergy in Central Europe, during the European Economic Congress .
• The planned expenditure on the green transformation of the energy sector in Poland amounts to as much as PLN 700-800 billion by 2030. This means that each year from PLN 120 to 150 billion will be allocated for this purpose.

Europe is losing the technological race, as the Draghi report clearly showed. In the face of energy transformation, the Old Continent must correct the mistakes it has made.

The last decade has shown that European industry – instead of supporting the development of its own companies – de facto financed the development of the Chinese economy by importing technologies instead of investing locally.

- Today, there is a fundamental change in thinking - both on the side of the regulator, i.e. the European Commission, and state-owned companies and financial institutions. There is an increasingly clear understanding that energy transformation must be based on local know-how, and this also applies to support for companies operating in the green technology sector. They will be the beneficiaries of the largest investments in energy transformation in Poland's history - said Mikołaj Budzanowski, president of EIT InnoEnergy in Central Europe, during the European Economic Congress .

Poland is the largest construction site for energy investments

As our interlocutor recalled, the planned expenditure on the green transformation of the energy sector in Poland amounts to as much as PLN 700-800 billion by 2030. This means that each year from PLN 120 to 150 billion will be allocated for this purpose.

- Today, we are the largest construction site for energy investments in the whole of Europe. And it is worth asking ourselves whether this money will simply be spent or rather invested in local producers and local technologies - emphasized Mikołaj Budzanowski.

This is where InnoEnergy, a European accelerator of green technologies , sees its role, as it wants to support local, i.e. Polish, innovators – from the stage of academic research to commercialization.

- It all starts with innovators and engineers. Our own knowledge, which comes from Polish universities, is key. We cooperate with AGH, Silesian University of Technology and Wrocław University of Science and Technology, among others. We count on cooperation with other universities. We want to transform their knowledge into specific technological solutions - said the president of EIT Innoenergy in Central Europe.

Transformation is a long-term process. Examples of changes are already visible in Poland.

However, the success of the transformation and building the industrial potential in Poland in the field of green technologies will not be based only on Polish scientists, because there are more factors necessary for success.

The availability of financing, the readiness of companies to implement new solutions, and an environment favorable to industry are important. In Poland, things are not the best with this, it is enough to mention only the energy prices , which are currently among the highest in Europe in our country.

However, our interlocutor assures us that transformation is a long-term process, spread over time, and – even more importantly – positive examples of change are already visible.

- The government has raised the slogan of "Polonization", which will mean support for Polish companies that want to invest in this area. Secondly, state-owned companies that spend huge amounts of money on the energy technology market are also already promoting local suppliers and focusing on building value chains in Poland. A clear change of approach is visible here - for the first time in years - said Mikołaj Budzanowski.