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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s consumption of natural gas reached record levels this week, as the fuel continues to play a bigger role in the country’s energy mix and as temperatures plummeted amid a winter freeze.
Daily consumption of high-methane gas reached a record 99.2 million cubic metres on 8 January, according to figures published by transmission operator Gaz-System. At the same time, total daily transmission volumes hit an all-time high of 108 million cubic metres, reflecting both domestic demand and exports.
📣 8 stycznia GAZ-SYSTEM osiągnął rekordowy dobowy przesył gazu – ponad 108 mln m³.
To potwierdzenie, że Krajowy System Przesyłowy działa stabilnie i bez zakłóceń – nawet przy dużym zapotrzebowaniu i trudnych warunkach pogodowych.#GAZSYSTEM konsekwentnie realizuje strategię… pic.twitter.com/pflyD7q0u1
— GAZ-SYSTEM (@GAZ_SYSTEM) January 9, 2026
“This is a historic level, confirming the high capacity and resilience of the transmission infrastructure, even in conditions of intensive gas consumption related to a persistent freeze,” the company said.
Gaz-system’s data show that consumption of high-methane gas stood at 89.6 million cubic metres on 6 January, breaking the previous record of 88.7 million cubic metres set on 18 January 2021, reported broadcaster RMF FM.
Consumption rose further this week to almost 96 million cubic metres on 7 January before surpassing 99 million cubic metres the following day.
Gas demand in Poland typically rises sharply in winter, reaching up to three times summer levels. The current surge has been fuelled by a wave of particularly cold weather sweeping the country this week.
Night-time temperatures could drop below -20 degrees in some locations over the weekend, according to the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW), a state agency.
Poland has also been ramping up its use of gas in recent years as it gradually moves away from coal, which has traditionally produced most of the country’s electricity and is also burned to heat many of its homes.
By November, an annual record amount of gas had been traded on the Polish Power Exchange (TGE). By the end of the year, total trading reached just under 209 terawatt hours (TWh), up 52.8% from 2024 and 15.6% above the previous record set in 2021, TGE said.
Most of Poland’s gas is imported, with the largest amount coming from Norway via the Baltic Pipe and most of the rest arriving by sea in the form of liquefied natural gas, mainly from the United States and Qatar.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Gaz-System
Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.
