We have a pleasure to present this guide on the auction system for renewables as a compendium of knowledge prepared by the Polish Photovoltaics Association and its member – DWF.
The solar energy revolution in Poland is in full swing. In December 2022, RES auctions were held for PV projects, among others. In the basket dedicated to large projects (above 1 MW), photovoltaic installations retained an advantage in terms of installed capacity over wind power plants. This is due to the “10H” distance rule with respect to onshore wind that was still in force at the time. There are simply no new onshore wind projects. Despite the liberalisation of the “10H” distance rule by the legislator, there is bound to be a few years’ investment gap in this sub-sector.
As a result, the expected RES deficit in the Polish electricity system can be filled only by large and small scale PV projects for several years from now. It is also worth mentioning that rising energy prices open the opportunity for new business models, apart from RES auctions. In this context, long-term Corporate Power Purchase Agreements, industrial, self-consumption, hybrid installations and co-located solar and storage constitute a new opportunity for the solar PV sector and provide direct economic benefits to the consumers.
One of the priorities of the actual National Recovery Plan is to use the potential of renewable energy sources for the economy. The objectives established by Poland in it are to increase the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption and to reduce the exposure to air pollution from particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). Further development of photovoltaics fits in perfectly with these intentions.
