Poland ready to supply extra power to Ukraine if Slovakia cuts flows: minister

Poland is ready to supply more power to Ukraine if Slovakia cuts flows to the country, the Polish climate and environment minister, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, said Jan. 7.

"Poland will be able to increase electricity sales to Ukraine, but on the condition that Ukraine is willing to do so," Hennig-Kloska told Polish TV.

In December, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said his government would consider halting electricity exports to Ukraine following Kyiv's announcement that it would not extend an agreement on Russian natural gas transit to Europe after it expired Dec. 31.

"Our operator is ready, it is only a question of whether Ukraine will want or need to use it. Fico's behavior is at odds with Europe," Hennig-Kloska said.

Poland was a net importer of power in 2024 and has limited surplus generation capacity as it moves to decommission old coal units as part of its energy transition.

However, it has two interconnectors with Ukraine.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Polish grid operator PSE modernized a decades-long dormant 750 kV line to Ukraine's Khmelnitsky nuclear power station, converting it to 400 kV and making it bidirectional.

In addition, the 220 kV Zamosc-Dobrotwor line is operational.

According to Entso-e data, in December, Poland exported 144 GWh of electricity to Ukraine and imported 5 GWh from its neighbor.

Since Dec. 1, Ukraine has been able to import an additional 400 MW of electricity from the European Union.

In July 2024, Warsaw floated an idea to raise its coal-fired generation to enable increased exports to Ukraine if the European Commission agreed to waive payments for additional EU Allowances.

In November, Pawel Kowal, who heads Poland's Council for Cooperation with Ukraine, told the state news agency PAP that the Commission had rejected the idea.

He said Warsaw subsequently proposed that the European Energy Community cover the extra cost of purchasing additional emission allowances.

Kowal said Poland has proposed raising coal-fired generation to cover between 7% and 10% of Ukraine's power demand. Warsaw said the electricity would be sold at a price lower than the market price.