The Polish Government announced on Wednesday plans to develop 8 gigawatts (GW) worth of offshore wind by 2035, a move the country will sign into law. At the same time, the Government opened a 1 GW onshore wind energy auction on Monday which could yield prices between €43-63/MWh.
The Polish State Secretary for Energy, Grzegorz Tobiszowski, announced the plans on Wednesday, according to the European wind energy trade body, WindEurope. The decision will soon be placed into law, which will also spell out the annual volumes expected over the time through to 2035.
“Things are now starting to look up for wind energy in Poland,” said WindEurope Chief Policy Officer Pierre Tardieu. “Wind energy growth stopped when the government passed a stringent set-back distance law and hiked the tax on wind farms two years ago. The distance law doesn’t apply to projects bidding in the auction, because they already had their permit when the law came in. And the Government reversed the tax hike this year. But the distance law still needs fixing to allow for future growth.”
“Building 1 GW of new onshore wind makes perfect economic sense for Poland,” Tardieu continued, referring to the 1 GW onshore wind auction the Polish Government commenced on November 5. “It’s cheaper than building new coal or nuclear. And we expect prices to be cheaper than recent auctions in France and Germany. Delivering these projects will create jobs and revenue in communities across the country.”
According to WindEurope, which conducted a “non-exhaustive survey of bidders,” the onshore wind auction is likely to yield prices set between €43-63/MWh — hanging around an average in the €51/MWh range, lower than that of both France (€65/MWh) and Germany (€62.6/MWh). State Secretary Tobiszowski also revealed on Wednesday that the country will run a second onshore wind auction in the coming months, which is good news, as WindEurope is expecting this auction to be over-subscribed.
“Poland’s plans for 8 GW of offshore wind by 2035 are also very encouraging,” Tardieu added. “The Polish Baltic Sea has enormous wind energy potential and it’s great to see Poland beginning to tap into this and boosting their existing offshore wind supply chain. Poland should now include detailed plans on both on- and offshore wind in its National Energy and Climate Plan for 2030. The first draft is due by the end of 2018.
“With its onshore auction and plans for offshore wind, Poland is now sending a powerful signal to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe that being ambitious on wind energy makes economic sense.”
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