700 MW Allocated to Small Scale PV Developers in Poland’s Latest Renewables Auction

In Poland‘s latest renewables auction of the year, the solar grabs 700 MW for small-scale photovoltaic (PV) plants. The country’s Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) reported a minimum price of PLN 228.7/MWh (USD 61.2), while it was PLN 269.0 in the auction held last year.

ERO announced the results on 18th December 2020, declaring that or 11.75 TWh or 99.9 percent of the allocated energy was sold in the auction. Successful bids were made by 235 parties, where 590 producers participated in the competitive process with a total of 1,618 bids. However, no onshore wind offers emerged in the process.

The total value of the allocated power is estimated at more than PLN 3 billion, accounting for 67 percent of the possible support. While a total of 54.5 TWh of electricity was sold, with a total value of nearly PLN 12.9 billion.

“Due to the huge number of submitted bids, the auction winners were selected not only based on the selling price but also by the order in which they were submitted,” the authority emphasized.

The Polish legislation establishes that in the event that several auction participants offer the same lowest selling price for electricity produced from renewable energy sources, the order of the submitted bids decides which projects will be prioritized, according to the authority.

Altogether, it will result in the construction of over 1.56 GW of solar PV parks, nearly 0.93 GW of new wind farms, and slightly over 4 MW of new capacity from other renewable energy technologies.

Rafal Gawin, president of URE, noted that this year’s auctions outlined a visible slowdown in the development of new wind projects because of distance limitations. He also explained the suitable locations with favorable wind speeds, social and environmental features, and relatively low connection costs, have already been exhausted.

According to a new report by the Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (IEO), Poland may achieve its target of 7.8 GW of solar by 2030 as outlined in the National Plan for Energy and Climate. Poland Renewables Auction