Bełchatów

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Bełchatów is a city in central Poland, in the Łódź Voivodeship, about 160 kilometers (99 miles) southwest of Warsaw. As of December 2021, it has 55,583 residents.

The town is best known for the Bełchatów Power Plant, the largest coal-fired power plant in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It generates about 27–28 terawatt-hours of electricity each year, roughly 20% of Poland’s total production. About 8,000 people work for the company that runs the mine and the power plants.

Bełchatów is also famous for its volleyball club Skra Bełchatów and for local candy called krówki, especially the wyborowa krówka bełchatowska.

The city includes several housing estates, such as Budowlanych near the center, close to Kultura cinema, the Municipal Cultural Center, the Town Hall, and a church. Other districts include Dobrzelów, Grocholice, and Zdzieszulice. Grocholice used to be a private church town, while Bełchatów, Dobrzelów, and Zdzieszulice were private villages in historic times.

National road 74 passes to the north of Bełchatów, and voivodeship road 484 connects the town with Kamieńsk and Buczek. The nearest railway station is in Piotrków Trybunalski to the east.

Bełchatów has sister city connections, but in February 2022 it suspended its partnership with the Russian city Sovetsk in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.