8. CAN POLAND'S ENERGY CAPITAL BE POWERED BY RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (RES) IN THE FUTURE?

All analyses and economic trends point to the fact that the Bełchatów Power Plant will cease operations in the middle of the next decade. In addition to the socio-economic challenges, the key issues remain national energy security, but also maintaining the region's leading role in the energy industry.

It is becoming apparent that such a direction of development currently has a real chance only on the basis of renewable energy sources. One industry example that may inspire is the activities of the owner of a mine located in the German Lusatia region, the Czech company Leagu, based in Cottbus.

There are significant opportunities for RES investments in the Lodz region. Bełchatów could bet on wind and solar energy, also using the existing grid infrastructure. BloombergNEF, in cooperation with the Energy Forum, analysed historical weather profiles. They show that solar and wind energy in the region complement each other perfectly, as they are available at different times: often when the sun is not shining, the wind is blowing, and vice versa.

7. KLESZCZÓW – industrial zones

The Kleszczów commune is located in central Poland in the southern part of the Łódzkie Voivodeship, in the Bełchatów district, near the routes: Warsaw-Wroclaw and Katowice-Gdansk. The commune has currently 6200 inhabitants and is famous for the location of the Bełchatów Lignite Mine and the Bełchatów Power Plant belonging to the Polish Energy Group (PGE).

The municipality generates its biggest revenue from two taxes: property tax and the so-called mining fee for each tonne of coal mined. In recent years, the municipality's budget has received a total of more than 270 million zloty, of which more than 170 million zloty is revenue from legal persons, from individuals and from other unincorporated entities, mainly taxes on the largest mine and power plant in Europe owned by PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna.

The municipality of Kleszczów belongs to the local government's first league of business-friendly municipalities in Poland thanks to the funds flowing into the budget and the economic transformation that has taken place since the 1990s, the large-scale investments and the attractive investment offer created.

This fact is confirmed by the "Gmina Fair Play" statuettes, the "Teraz Polska" and "Grunt na medal" promotional emblem received in successive years, as well as by investors from Poland and abroad who have located their businesses in the Kleszczów Commune.

Photo source: www.terenyinwestycyjne.info

6. KAMIEŃSK HILL and artificial lakes

All post-mining areas must be reclaimed and redeveloped over time. Often these activities take place in parallel with the mining process. This is determined by legal stipulations, and the manner and form depends mainly on the geological conditions, the economic calculation and the assumptions of the landowners. Hence, for quite a long time, PGE Mining and Conventional Power Generation has also been carrying out reclamation activities in addition to coal mining for energy purposes and power generation.

At the site of the Bełchatów and Szczerców opencast mines and on the spoil heaps, it is planned to create areas of recreational and tourist value, a giant lake and two hills. One, Góra Kamieńsk, is already being used for tourism and economic purposes.

The mountain is a flagship example of PGE Mining and Conventional Power Generation comprehensive reclamation efforts and is proof that the changes to the land surface associated with opencast mining are temporary in nature and do not have to significantly harm the fundamental processes of biological life.

5. RADOMSKO - investment zones

Radomsko is a city with an area of 51.43 square kilometres, located in the southern part of the Łódzkie Voivodeship and has over 45,000 inhabitants. It is the eighth largest city in the province in terms of population and third in terms of area.

Radomsko's advantage is its location on important transport routes in the centre of Poland. The National Road No. 1 (now the Motorway A1) connects the city with the seaports of Gdańsk and Gdynia on the Baltic Sea coast, the Silesian region and further with Southern Europe. The east-west direction of Poland is served by National Road No. 42.

Both roads intersect in the area of the city's investment zone, which has been developing dynamically for over a decade. Currently, following the reconstruction of the motorway A1, a junction in Kamieńsk has been created outside Radomsko (approximately 40 km from Bełchatów) and the previously existing one near Piotrków Trybunalski (in the area of the Wola Krzysztoporska commune) has been extended. Both are located even closer to Bełchatów, just over 20 km.

All three junctions still have the potential to attract investors, which is a natural opportunity for job creation also for those connected with the power concern in Bełchatów.

Photo source: www.biznes.radomsko.pl

4. EC1 – a post–industrial facility of the formerCombined Heat and Power Plant located in the New Centre of Łódź

Established by a resolution of the City Council as a cultural institution "EC1 Łódź – City of Culture" in Łódź. Work to revitalise the area began in 2008.

The total value of the project was over 265 million zloty, of which over 82 million came from the European Regional Development Fund.

Post–industrial buildings were renovated and modernised and adapted to their new functions. Conservation and restoration work was undertaken on industrial monuments in order to adapt them to their new roles. The revitalisation of the buildings has taken into account the rank and character of the area, referring to the historical nature of the buildings.

Today, it is one of the most interesting facilities in revitalised Łódź, with exhibition, conference and educational functions.

3. ŻYRARDÓW

The history of Żyrardów is intertwined with the history of the founding of Lodz, the development of the textile industry in the then Kingdom of Poland in the 19th century and the subsequent history of towns built on the basis of a monoculture that was the so-called light industry employing mostly women. For more than 150 years, Żyrardów was known as the "Polish capital of flax" – a European powerhouse of the textile industry, a town whose rhythm and life were determined by the flax factory.

But the element that stands out in the history of Żyrardów is the urban and architectural assumptions adopted by its founders to build the settlement. The city was built according to the model of a garden city, an ideal city. In the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century the characteristic red brick buildings were built. These included multi-family houses for workers, houses for foremen and factory managers.

In addition to these, numerous social and cultural facilities were built during this period to serve the town's residents, including a day care centre for children, a hospital, a pharmacy and infirmary, a shelter for the elderly, a bathhouse and laundry, a residence for factory officials, three schools, a gymnasium, a library, a people's house, a representative villa for factory owners and a weaving school. Several churches were also built during this period, including two Catholic churches and one Protestant church. This historic complex covering the central part of the town with an area of about 70 hectares is the only urban and architectural complex of an industrial town of the turn of the 20th century in Europe that has been preserved in its entirety.

2. UNIEJÓW

A town of three thousand inhabitants, which owes its spectacular growth in the last twenty years to the discovery and use of geothermal waters and the effective use of more than 200 million zloty from European funds, mainly for coherently planned investments. In 1999 the Geotermia Uniejów company was established, which set about building a municipal heating system based on geothermal energy.

An impressive thermal pool complex "Termy Uniejów" was created in the town, the castle was renovated and the castle park was revitalised. Uniejów has had the status of a spa town since 2012 and relies on the development of tourist and recreational functions.

This would not have been possible without the visionary mayor, who consistently puts these plans into practice.

INSPIRING CASE STUDIES SELECTED FOR THE PROJECT

1. HAMBACH - Hambach opencast mine

Commissioned in 1978, it is located 40 km west of Cologne, in the heart of the Rhenish lignite mining area. At its peak, the deposit with an area of 8,500 hectares and a maximum depth of 411 metres supplied around 40 million tonnes of lignite to local power plants, which supplied 5% of Germany's electricity needs.

In 2029, the operation of the mine will be terminated as part of the statutory coal phase-out. Local zoning plans are currently being amended to allow ambitious plans for the reclamation of the open pit to go ahead. A lake will be created that will be filled by the Rhine for decades.

The measures being taken are aimed at a complete multi-directional transformation with the active participation of the municipalities: project – Neuland Hambach GmbH.

Realistic start of BEŁCHATÓW POWER PLANTS unit shutdown

1 January 2030

FUNDUSZ NA RZECZ SPRAWIEDLIWEJ TRANSFORMACJI

Komisja Europejska zatwierdziła program Fundusze Europejskie dla Łódzkiego. Do naszego województwa trafi rekordowa kwota 2 mld 745 mln unijnych euro. To prawie pół miliarda euro więcej niż w poprzednim okresie programowania.

Na tę kwotę składają się:

 1,7 mld euro – przeznaczone na tzw. działania twarde, czyli inwestycje w transport, infrastrukturę zdrowotną i kulturalną, a także na wsparcie dla przedsiębiorców;

 658 mln euro – na tzw. działania miękkie, czyli wsparcie społeczne, szkolenia dla pracowników i przekwalifikowanie, a także stypendia dla studentów.

 369,5 mln euro – na rzecz Sprawiedliwej Transformacji.

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