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Poland: Energy collective provides clean energy for spa town

Ladek-Zdroj in southern Poland is home to one of the country's first energy communities. After eight years of planning, it was finally connected to the grid in September 2023. Mayor Roman Kaczmarczyk had to overcome several obstacles, including Poland's inadequate legislation on energy communities and a lack of funding.

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Ladek-Zdroj in Poland is one of Europe's oldest spa towns. Until recently, however, it received regular complaints from visitors about its poor air quality. When Roman Kaczmarczyk was elected mayor in 2014, he decided that something had to change and set about establishing an energy community to run a solar farm in a field outside the town.

According to the mayor, the project has been a huge success: the town now has cleaner air, cheaper electricity and is well on its way to becoming independent of the national power supply. What's more, all municipal buildings in Ladek-Zdroj are now 100% powered by local green energy. Kaczmarczyk is convinced that the green energy transformation in Poland has just begun.

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