Author: Agata Skrzypczyk


Agata Skrzypczyk is a journalist, public speaker and project manager specialized in renewable energy and sustainable development. She gained her experience as a project manager in the energy industry in Denmark, Canada and Poland. Skrzypczyk she publishes articles about energy markets and green technologies in various countries and runs her weekly radio broadcast. She advocates for energy democracy and citizen's role in energy transition in media, conferences and assemblies.

How to modernize Poland’s outdated electric grid

Obsolete power grids are putting the brakes on Poland’s renewable energy rollout. According to the Energy Regulatory Office (URE), more than a third of overhead lines are over 40 years old, while a third of power stations were built before the year 1982. This aging infrastructure may slow the nation’s rapid increase in renewable sources. Agata Skrzypczyk has the details.

Read More

Critical juncture: Poland’s government greenlights the country’s first nuclear power plant

The Polish government has taken a first step towards realizing its nuclear energy aspirations – building a reactor with a total capacity of 9 GW by the year 2043. At the beginning of November, an agreement was signed with the American, Pittsburg-based company Westinghouse to build its first nuclear project on the Baltic coast. It marks a significant pivot in the Polish energy transition. Nuclear has long formed part of the country’s energy plans, but scant action was taken in that direction, more hope was put into renewable energy sources. Now it looks like green-energy sources may take a hit. Agata Skrzypczyk has the details.

Read More

Eastern Greater Poland: An Energy Transition Trailblazer

As the first of the country’s six coal regions to start planning its coal phase-out, Eastern Greater Poland is the undisputed leader in Poland’s just energy transition. For 80 years, the region’s industry has revolved around lignite, but Eastern Greater Poland has ambitions not only to change the status quo with regard to coal, but also to serve as an example for the rest of the nation. Grass-roots projects lie at the heart of their new approach to energy. Agata Skrzypczyk has the story.

Read More

Why are Polish politicians afraid to talk about the climate?

The time to panic is clearly upon us. No more beating around the bush: we must recognise the inevitability of the climate catastrophe. But has everyone noticed it yet? The beginning of 2020 saw the premiere of a documentary by American director Jonathan Ramsey about the Polish atmospheric physicist Szymon Malinowski, who is fighting for the climate. The film’s title announces that It’s okay to panic. It would appear that the public is realising that the time has come for controlled panic, or rather for action. The film presents determined social activists and wise scientists. There are still plenty of politicians and media outlets that have not recognised that it is time to panic, nor noticed the inevitability of climate change in the country and the world. Where does this resistance come from? What is the climate debate in Poland like, and who is generating it? Agata Skrzypczyk reports

Read More

Who doesn’t like Polish wind power?

Despite the fact that the price of investment in onshore wind power is dropping massively as its efficiency surges, turbines are still unwanted in Poland. If it weren’t effectively blocked by unfavourable legal regulations, wind energy would create a chance to increase the importance of renewable energy sources. What is the reason for wind power’s bad image in Poland and who is suffering most as a result? Agata Skrzypczyk reports.

Read More

Will Coronavirus Improve Poland’s Chances of Meeting Its 2020 RES Target?

For the last two weeks of March, while Poland was experiencing the difficulties created by Covid-19, electricity demand dropped by as much as 8.5 percent. This drop has effectively increased the share of renewable energy sources within the national energy mix. How will the crisis provoked by the new virus affect Poland’s energy and climate policy? Will changes in the energy market make it possible to meet the EU’s 2020 renewable energy targets on the home straight? Agata Skrzypczyk takes a look behind the scenes.

Read More