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The year 2025 brings significant changes and challenges to the energy market – both in Poland and internationally. From record prices on the domestic balancing market, through historically low demand for power, to important legislative decisions, such as the adoption of the new wind farm law – the energy sector is in a phase of intensive transformation. At the same time, global trends, such as record LNG exports from the US or a decline in coal imports in Asia, are setting new directions for development and redefining previous dependencies.
In this article, we look at the most important events and data from the first quarter of 2025 that could significantly impact the future of energy.
- Energy market in Poland. Since the reform of the Balancing Market in June 2024, the valuation of a single hour has exceeded PLN 1,000/MWh 197 times, which gives an average of 21 cases per month. However, in recent months, a clear slowdown in this trend has been observed - 10 cases were recorded in January, 4 in February, and only 1 in March. The average power in the Polish power system in March was 18,245 MW, which is the lowest value since September 2024. This is also the lowest March reading in the history of measurements, being 1,611 MW (8%) below the average from 2016-2024.
- The government has adopted the draft wind farm act. On March 21, Anna Hennig-Kloska announced that the Council of Ministers has adopted the draft act on onshore wind farms, prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Environment, by circulation. The key change in the draft is the abolition of the so-called Distance Act, known as the 10H rule. The new regulations provide for a reduction of this distance to 500 meters. The draft act also contains detailed guidelines on the minimum distance of turbines from protected areas.
- Record US LNG exports. The US exported a record 12 bcm of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in March 2025, surpassing the previous record of 11.8 bcm set in December 2023. The increase is attributed to increased production at the Plaquemines LNG plant in Louisiana. Europe received 70% of US LNG exports, down from 82% in February, while exports to Asia rose significantly to 2.1 bcm.
- Coal imports fall by major buyers. The world’s largest coal importers – China, India, Japan and South Korea – cut their purchases by more than 10% in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, reaching their lowest quarterly level in three years. The decline is a result of increased renewable energy production. However, smaller economies such as Turkey, Vietnam and Bangladesh have increased coal imports, partially offsetting the reduction by major importers.
- Progress in the construction of the LNG terminal in Gdańsk. On 18 March 2025, the Maritime Office in Gdynia began the construction of a protective breakwater in the Port of Gdańsk, which is crucial for the launch of the FSRU terminal. The contract for the implementation of this task was signed with NDI from Sopot. The FSRU terminal, located in the southern part of the Gulf of Gdańsk, is to start operating at the turn of 2027 and 2028, increasing the security and diversification of gas supplies to Poland.
Detailed information about the energy and gas market is presented in the monthly Enfree Market Report.
