The Polish Wind Energy Association recommends almost quadrupling the volume and value of energy from large wind and solar installations in the auction planned in 2020.

The call to increase the volume of energy contracted in this basket from 14.7 TWh to almost 58.3 TWh, and the budget from almost 5.36 bn to 21.36 bn PLN applies to the draft regulation submitted for public consultation by the Ministry of Energy on 9 October.

– A significant increase of volumes for this basket in next year’s auction will allow for the upward trend in the renewables market to be sustained. Thanks to that we will not encounter shortages in RES share after 2023, which would again make our 2030 targets questionable. In the shorter term, the benefit from larger volumes will be the possibility to develop both dynamically developing large photovoltaic farms and wind project bringing the strongest reduction in wholesale energy prices, with quite a lot of them remaining on the market after this year’s auction – explains Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the  Polish Wind Energy Association (PWEA).

PWEA’s calculations indicate that only the Association’s members have in their portfolios projects with

a total capacity of 1.5 GW, including 1.2 GW in wind and approx. 300 MW in large PV farms.

Leaving the volume by the Ministry of Energy at the level of 1 GW for wind and solar installations will result in wind entirely filling this auction basket due to price advantage of this technology.

In turn, full utilization of the potential of onshore wind power will not only accelerate the transition of the energy systems towards lower emissions in line with the obligations under EU’s climate policy, but will also translate to lower energy bills for end users.

The economy, society and environment will benefit.

Construction of wind farms also brings jobs and income for individuals, municipalities and the state budget. Development and construction of a 10 MW onshore wind farm generates 173 jobs, and its operation requires 6 full-time equivalent jobs. Each megawatt of installed capacity in onshore wind brings PLN 7k to the state budget in PIT and CIT taxes. The average revenue from real estate tax for municipalities where wind farms are located amounts to over PLN 9m per year.

A revision of the regulation will therefore allow for utilization of the existing potential in onshore wind and large PV projects, contributing to meeting the RES target for 2030.