Renewable energy production and the socio-economic development of regions – a case study of Poland

The present study was undertaken to analyse and evaluate energy production from renewable energy sources in the context of the socio-economic development of Polish regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate renewable energy production in Polish voivodeships and to determine the relationship between renewables and the socio-economic development of Polish regions. The research objective was achieved with the use of agglomerative hierarchical clustering and linear ordering methods. These techniques were applied to rank Polish voivodeships in terms of renewable energy production and to determine the links between the socio-economic development of Polish regions and renewables. Long-term changes in the analysed parameters were assessed based on data for 2017 and 2022. The analysis revealed considerable differences in renewable energy generation across Polish voivodeships, as well as the presence of a negative relationship between green energy and socio-economic development, which can be attributed to the specificity of Polish regions. The development of renewable energy production undoubtedly poses a significant challenge for Poland, and further efforts are needed to fully harness the country’s renewable energy potential. However, positive changes have been observed in the least developed Polish voivodeships, which can contribute to an improvement in the welfare of all Polish citizens in the future.