On March 28, the conference “From Coal to Nuclear. Bełchatów of the Future” took place in Bełchatów, gathering around 1,000 participants – including employees of the local power plant and lignite mine. For many attendees, the future of the region’s energy sector is a deeply personal and crucial issue.
Among the invited guests were local government officials, representatives of the national government, executives from PGE S.A. and PGE GiEK S.A., labor union leaders, and researchers from Polish universities and scientific institutes.
The event featured four discussion panels focused on the potential of the Bełchatów site as a candidate for Poland’s second nuclear power plant, as indicated by the Ministry of Industry in the upcoming update to the Polish Nuclear Energy Program (PPEJ).
Panel I, titled “Can Polish Energy Survive Without Nuclear? Opportunities and Challenges in the Development of Nuclear Energy in Poland”, featured the following speakers:
🔸 Łukasz Bartela, Silesian University of Technology, DEsire – Platform for Energy Transformation
🔸 Hubert Cichocki, President, Łukasiewicz Research Network
🔸 Paweł Gajda, Director of the Department of Nuclear Energy, Ministry of Industry
🔸 Maciej Górski, Vice President for Operations, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna
🔸 Dariusz Joński, Member of the European Parliament
🔸 Adam Rajewski, Warsaw University of Technology, Nuclear PL Sp. z o.o.
The panel was moderated by Bartłomiej Sawicki.
Although the final decision on Poland’s second nuclear power plant site is still ahead, Bełchatów already stands out thanks to its unified regional stance and strong determination to attract this strategic investment.
