Poland cuts coal plant output as Vistula drought limits cooling water

A severe drought across Europe has lowered the Vistula River’s flow, forcing Poland’s energy provider Enea to curtail electricity generation at its Kozienice and Połaniec coal‑fired power stations. On 4 August the plants reduced output by about 1.3 GW – roughly two percent of national capacity and enough to supply more than one million households – because the river’s discharge fell to just 135 m³/s, while each plant requires 80‑100 m³/s for cooling.

Environmental groups warn the reduced water flow threatens fish larvae, including six protected species, and criticize plans to add a 1.3 GW gas plant at Kozienice. “The paradox of the climate crisis is that the very plants that drive warming are becoming victims of it,” said Paweł Pomian, vice‑president of the Polish environmental NGO EKO‑UNIA, calling the drought a wake‑up call for faster clean‑energy transition in Poland and the wider continent.