Manufacturing in Poland: can energy become the new competitive advantage?

For Dutch and Belgian manufacturers, Poland is associated with lower labour costs, skilled workers and a central European location. Those advantages remain, but they are narrowing. Polish labour costs rose 8.8% in 2025. Manufacturers increasingly compete on automation and quality rather than price.

Meanwhile electricity is becoming a strategic condition. In ten years, can your factory obtain sufficient power? At what price, and with what CO₂ profile for its customers?

If you evaluate Poland only by wages, you are investing on the basis of the advantage most likely to disappear first.

The uncomfortable truth: Polish industrial power is expensive today

According to Polish think tank Forum Energii, average end-user electricity prices for energy-intensive industry in 2024 were €166.9/MWh in Poland, compared with €133.0 in Germany, €105.8 in Denmark and €78.4 in France.

Poland's price included €128.8 for energy, €29.4 for networks and distribution, and €8.6 in other levies. Forum Energii attributes €46.1/MWh of the energy component to emissions allowances. Coal and lignite still supplied 52.2% of Polish electricity in 2025, down from 56.6% in 2024.

Compensation changes the picture for eligible industrial users. Poland paid PLN 2.9 billion in indirect ETS cost compensation in 2024. The EU's CISAF framework from 2026 may provide additional relief. These are political choices rather than guaranteed price reductions.

And the Netherlands?

Staying in the Netherlands is not automatically safer. TNO warned in 2025 of a possible Dutch industrial electricity cost disadvantage of €40–60/MWh toward 2030 compared with Belgium, Germany and France. Its scenario indicated 7–12% less industrial output and approximately 22,000 jobs at risk from 2025 to 2031.

Moreover, Dutch electricity grid congestion can prevent a new site from obtaining physical capacity for years. In Poland, the challenge lies in a combination of energy mix, grid investment, policy and compensation. The choice is not simply cheap versus expensive. Which problems can you contract around, and which are beyond your control?

Poland's longer-term energy transition

• Nuclear: plans for three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at Lubiatowo-Kopalino total about 3,750 MW. The first unit was scheduled for 2036, but that date is not guaranteed.
• Grid: years of refused connection requests reveal a significant need for network investment and reinforcement.
• Energy mix: in 2025, coal accounted for 52.2%, renewables for 29.4% and gas for 13.2% of Polish electricity.
• Compensation: policy changes could substantially reduce industrial end-user prices but depend on future governments.

In ten to fifteen years, these shifts could create a very different Poland: a large technical workforce, central location, major domestic market and more low-carbon generation. But plans are not guarantees. Build scenarios and secure energy supply contractually where possible.

What is the impact on your own business case?

Energy averages around 3.3% of Polish industrial production costs but varies enormously: roughly 0.7% for electronics and 11% for basic metals. For one company electricity is a purchasing issue; for another it is a board-level strategy question.

A factory using 100 GWh per year consumes 100,000 MWh. A €20/MWh price difference equals €2 million each year; €50/MWh equals €5 million. That may fund an entire automation programme annually.

Four questions before choosing a location

1. How energy-intensive are you? Calculate energy as a share of production cost. Above 5%, treat it as strategic.
2. What is your horizon? Three years means today's prices. Thirty years requires assumptions about nuclear power, grids and emissions.
3. Is capacity or price your bottleneck? Verify physical connection capacity first, then negotiate terms.
4. What will customers expect in five years? CBAM, Scope 3 reporting and procurement standards make the carbon profile of your electricity commercially important.

The question is not whether Poland is cheaper

Poland is no electricity paradise today. Moving only for a lower power price may be a mistake. But its long-term direction merits attention, particularly alongside Dutch grid congestion.

The deeper question is: what role could Poland play in your European value chain? Manufacturing, sales, logistics, partnerships and leadership belong in the same strategic decision.

Ei Openers helps entrepreneurs evaluate Poland as a market and production location. Plan a conversation.

Other languages: Nederlands

Sources

• Forum Energii, Rachunek za konkurencyjność (2026)
• Notes from Poland, energy mix
• American Nuclear Society, nuclear project
• DNV, grid constraints
• TNO, Dutch industrial energy costs
• Eurostat, labour costs

Marco de Vrind, Ei Openers. The figures reflect their cited periods; future projects and prices remain uncertain.