Economy, Energy

The bulk of Poland’s electricity is derived from coal, with 3 percent generated by hydroelectric facilities. After 1990 Poland’s energy sector was restructured into more than 100 companies in which the state held a controlling interest and was subjected to strict environmental regulations, especially ones concerning sulfur dioxide emissions. Wholesale privatization of the energy sector is being considered, as are proposals to lessen Poland’s dependence on coal, which is particularly harmful to the environment, by encouraging the use of other energy sources, such as oil and gas. Due to its limited reserves, nearly all of Poland’s oil has to be imported. Most is imported by sea from the Persian Gulf, North Africa, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The rest comes from the former Soviet Union through the Friendship Pipeline, which originates in Russia and runs through Belarus to the Plock petrochemical refinery, in central Poland.