Google, Amazon, Mercedes and Ikea warn Poland it will lose investment without more green energy

Google, Amazon, Mercedes and Ikea have appealed to Poland’s prime minister and parliament to support the development of green energy in order to attract continued investment. They also called for changes to a proposed new law on wind farms.

“Green energy is not just a new fashion – it is a necessity,” wrote the firms in a letter reported by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). Further signatories include the Polish Steel Association, Polish Concrete Association and Polish Chamber of Automotive Industry.

“Our companies prioritise investments in those markets where green electricity is readily available,” wrote the group. “Without the participation of green energy, the Polish economy is in danger of losing its competitiveness and market attractiveness.”

Renewables increased from having a 7% share in Poland’s energy mix in 2010 to 17% in 2021. But the country’s dominant source of electricity continues to be coal, which generated 71% of power in 2021, by far the highest proportion in the European Union. Poland last year ranked last in an EU-funded green index.

The lower house of parliament, the Sejm, recently approved a bill proposed by the government that would make it easier to build onshore wind farms by reducing the minimum distance they must be from buildings.

However, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party watered down the proposal with a last-minute amendment increasing that minimum distance from 500 metres to 700 metres, which the wind industry warns would severely hamper investment over the coming years.

“Changing the minimum distance from 500 to 700 meters significantly reduces the potential of onshore wind energy in the coming decade, and thus the amount of green energy in the grid,” wrote Amazon, Google, Mercedes and Ikea in their letter.

“With such a high demand for additional gigawatts of renewable energy capacity from both businesses and Polish consumers, we believe that any attempt to limit further development of wind energy is a missed opportunity for Poland to attract new investments.”

“We deeply believe that the new capacity from wind sources will also significantly contribute to ensuring energy security, lower bills and new jobs for Polish citizens,” they added. “Let’s work together to make it a reality.”

“We see huge growth potential for our operations in Central and Eastern Europe, and Poland is a particularly interesting market for us. Together, we would like to have a real impact on strengthening Poland’s position as a key market for our future investments.”

For many companies, which are ever more frequently including emissions reduction targets in their strategies, access to zero-carbon energy sources is an important factor when making investment decisions, Marcin Fabianowicz of Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) told Polityka Insight.

He noted that the plans Mercedes unveiled in December to build a €1.3 billion plant in Poland – the German automotive giant’s first plant to exclusively produce electric vans – was “the largest investment we have handled” in 2022.

“Companies such as Mercedes pay attention to what others also pay attention to…the fact this factory will be zero-emission,” said Fabianowicz.

According to IKEA, the Swedish furniture maker has invested 1.8 billion zloty (€382 million) in the green energy sector in Poland. In 2020, the firm opened its first “Home of Tomorrow” – a sustainability concept – in the world in the Polish city of Szczecin.

Google is also a major investor in Poland, pledging in 2021 to make Warsaw the “cloud capital of Europe” following the opening of a new $2 billion cloud data hub in the Polish capital. Amazon also has an extensive network of fulfilment and development centres in the country.

The Polish Concrete Association points out that concrete plants in the country are increasingly looking to use power from renewable energy sources. “Without green energy, the future of the cement industry is virtually impossible,” warned the association’s Zbigniew Pilch.

Main photo credit: Peter Beukema / Unsplash 

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.