energy | In Principle

The long-awaited rules for construction of wind farms have been announced. On 4 May 2021, a bill to amend the Act on Wind Power Plant Projects (aka the “Distance Act” or “10H Act”) was published on the Government Legislation Centre website. Its adoption may once again stimulate the growth of wind power, which not long ago was the most dynamic branch of renewable energy sources in Poland.

On 11 February 2021, the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 12 January 2021 on Air Traffic Obstacles, Obstacle Limitation Surfaces and Dangerous Devices came into force. In the method of notification and marking of air traffic obstacles, it replaced the regulation of 25 June 2003. Will wind turbines still need to be marked under the new regulation? If so, who should mark them and how? And, just as importantly, does existing marking need to be brought into compliance with the current regulations, and if so, when?

The rising costs of electricity and CO2 emission allowances are prompting an increasing number of businesses to consider investing in their own generation sources, including renewable energy sources. However, such an investment involves not only the purchase of appropriate equipment and finding a contractor. It also requires meeting a number of regulatory obligations and ensuring that the operations of the source are supported after it is placed in service.

Poland’s state-funded My Electricity programme, which provides subsidies for home photovoltaic installations, contributed to the installation of over 220,000 home PV installations in two years. The installation of new PV capacity in Poland has accelerated rapidly, reaching 4.1 GW in March 2021 (up from 557 MW at the end of 2018). A similar increase may soon apply to electric car charging installations, as according to announcements by the Ministry of Climate and Environment, from July 2021 owners of individual chargers will also be able to obtain funding from the programme.

On 16 February 2021 the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment released for public consultations a draft of the regulation on the maximum price for electricity generated at an offshore wind farm and introduction into the grid, in PLN per MWh, which is the basis for calculating the right to coverage of a negative balance. This amount is set at PLN 301.50/MWh (about EUR 67/MWh). This means that this will be the maximum amount of support from the Polish state for wind farms built in the Polish area of the Baltic Sea, which will be allocated within the next four months.

On 12 February 2021, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development, Labour and Technology, Jarosław Gowin, announced that the ministry has submitted to the government for inclusion in its agenda a proposal to amend the so-called 10H Distance Act. This means that in about two weeks, the public consultation process will begin, lasting another three weeks.

On 14 and 18 December, the president of Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office announced the results of this year’s last auctions for the sale of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) for new onshore photovoltaic (PV) installations and wind power plants with a total installed capacity of up to 1 MW and over 1 MW, held on 26 November and 3 December 2020 respectively.

Both industry and households will see increased fees in their electricity bills. Meanwhile, the announced relief for energy-intensive industry is still lacking.

According to the International Energy Agency, over a fourth of oil and gas supplies today come from the seas. Over the past couple of decades, extraction of natural gas from offshore deposits has risen by over 50%. There is also growing emphasis on offshore wind energy. Ventures of this type are technically complex, often innovative, and consequently costly. That is why fuel companies insure platforms, borings, and drilling equipment. What is important to pay attention to in such insurance policies? How to prepare for a potential dispute?

The long-awaited bill on offshore wind farms was published on 15 January 2020. The bill is to establish mechanisms and instruments for supporting the generation of electricity by offshore wind farms, and, to a certain extent, conditions for the preparation and construction of such projects.

The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology has submitted a long-awaited draft of the Act on Compensation for Energy-Intensive Industries in relation to the rising costs of climate policy.

A proposal for amendment of the Renewable Energy Sources Act has been published. It is intended to enable production of new RES while keeping energy prices as low as possible for users.