In accordance with Ministry for Climate and Environment’s guidelines, Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne specify peak hours when consumption of electricity from sources other than renewable is the highest. MCE encourages the citizens to save electricity in these periods. “It is a sign of a serious energy crisis in Poland. There are insufficient generation units, hence not enough power to satisfy the daily demand. Instead of developing own sources to secure the system, Poland continues to block onshore wind, with consequences of the crisis harming Polish citizens forces to save electricity,” said Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association.

In the era of Russian blackmail, energy crisis and skyrocketing energy prices, solutions that build independence and energy security are key. Notwithstanding the variability of external conditions, ensuring energy security of the country remains the most important purpose of energy policy and a key competence of a government responsible for it.

However, instead of ensuring new, additional generation capacity supplementing deficits in our power system, the government encourages energy savings during peak hours and rational use thereof, which is to alleviate the effects of the energy crisis, decrease electricity prices and system management costs. Instead of implementing ready solutions increasing energy security and volumes in the system expect active attitude of citizens to be a key element promoting energy security of our country.

“Energy threat announced by PSE and the need to save electricity during peak hours demonstrate that Poland today exhibits an actual power shortage. In such circumstances it is difficult to understand why new sources — onshore wind farms — continue to be blocked. War in Ukraine has been raging for 9 months now. Over that period there were almost 50 opportunities (the number of days of the Sejm’s sessions) to liberalise the 10 H rule and unblock onshore wind. Today we could have been a step closer to new wind megawatts in our system — the time has been wasted for the country. Instead, we have inflated prices, fear of surviving the winter and need for energy savings, for our State fails in the face of the largest energy crisis in years,” comments Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association.

In accordance with PSE, RES potential demonstrates the capability to produce more than 100 TWh of renewable energy per year by 2030 — substantially more than 50% of electricity demand in Poland. Onshore and offshore wind farms alone may contribute almost 25 GW of new capacity. Onshore wind and PV has the highest, achievable potential, demonstrated by RES auctions and the resulting volumes.

Together with production potential of other RES types, this means the capability to produce more than 100 TWh of renewable energy per year by 2030 — substantially more than 50% of net electricity demand in Poland, considering the current forecasts, much more than the levels assumed in the national strategic documents.

However, the way to secure a stable supply of green energy from RES is blocked by the lack of appropriate regulations. The act unblocking wind power development has been submitted by the government to the Sejm six months ago, but still has not been processed further. This is strange given the vast public support for such changes — today, no political party enjoys such a high support in Poland as RES. At the peak of a crisis related to coal shortage and skyrocketing electricity prices more than 80 percent Polish citizens want urgent adoption of an act liberalising onshore wind farm development.

Supra-party political support for onshore wind is also historic. Unanimous support for liberalisation of the Distance Act was expressed during the last session of the parliamentary Renewable Energy Group. It is a historic moment — all political parties, above political divisions, declare their support for liberalisation of the 10 H rule. All we need is to “unfreeze” it in the Sejm.