RES alerts

Stay up to date with the topic of renewable energy sources and find out why it is worth investing in RES.

On 25 June 2021, the President of the Energy Regulatory Office announced results of auctions for the sale of electrical power from renewable sources: Ordinary Auction no. AZ/7/2021 held on 8 June 2021 and Ordinary Auction no. AZ/8/2021 held on 11 June 2021.

Auction no. AZ/7/2021 was for wind and photovoltaic farms with installed capacity of over 1 MW, while auction no. AZ/8/2021 was for wind and photovoltaic plants with installed capacity of 1 MW or less.

For Auction no. AZ/7/2021, 111 bids were submitted, of which 91 were winning bids. The minimum energy sale price was 179.00 PLN/MWh, and the maximum price was 242.98 PLN/MWh.

For Auction no. AZ/8/2021, 1264 bids were submitted, of which 1016 were winning bids. The minimum energy sale price was 207.00 PLN/MWh, and the maximum price was 253.37 PLN/MWh.

The Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology published a bill amending the Wind Farm Investment Act at the beginning of May 2021.

More flexible 10H rule

The amendments will make wind farm construction easier. They will allow placing a wind turbine closer to residential buildings than provided earlier by the rigid 10H rule. Introduced in 2016, the 10H rule prohibited the construction of a wind turbine at a distance smaller than or equal to 10 times the height of the turbine (measured from the ground to the highest point of the structure, including its components, especially the rotor and the blades) from residential buildings or protected areas.

Changes at municipality level

The Ministry has proposed a more flexible distance rule in municipalities which intend to locate such infrastructure within their area and to allow the development of residential housing next to power plants. According to the bill, municipalities will be entitled to adopt a local spatial development plans providing for 500 m as the minimum distance between a wind turbine and a residential building.

Municipalities will have to consult interested dwellers and other stakeholders on the above changes during public discussions. Forecasts prepared for the purpose of drafting or amending a local spatial development plan will have to be agreed with the Regional Environmental Protection Director. 

The bill relaxing the Wind Farm Investment Act (dubbed "the minimum distance act") is currently at the stage of public consultations. Rödl & Partner experts will keep you updated on further changes.

On 21 April 2021, the European Parliament concluded negotiations on climate targets to be adopted under the Climate Law.

The main points of the agreement

The agreement aims at cutting CO2 emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared with 1990 level. The EU also aims to be climate-neutral and achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

In addition, a new institution will be established to advise the main EU bodies on climate issues. In view of the agreed climate commitments, further dynamic development of RES is expected within the EU.

The agreed targets still require the formal approval of the European Council and the European Parliament.

Rödl & Partner experts will keep you updated on the progress in the legislative work and further solutions included in this project. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

On 19 April 2021, a bill amending the Wind Farm Investment Act appeared on the legislative work agenda of the Council of Ministers.

The bill's main objectives

The aim of the bill is to untap the potential of onshore wind energy in Poland and to achieve higher energy production rates from renewable energy sources. This is in line with the goals set, among others, in the Energy Policy of Poland until 2040.

If passed, the act will facilitate the implementation of wind farm projects in municipalities willing to have such infrastructure sited on their territory.

Thus, it is expected that the tight restrictions related to siting wind farms, resulting from the current Wind Farm Investment Act, will be modified.

Rödl & Partner experts will keep you updated on the progress in the legislative work and further solutions included in the bill. If you have any questions, please contact us.

The President of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) and the Minister of Climate and Environment have announced the schedule of RES auctions to be held between 26 May and 11 June 2021.

Eight auctions are planned of which seven will be dedicated to new installations. The auction results are to be announced by 30 June 2021. Each auction session will be announced in the Public Information Bulletin of the ERO no later than 30 days before the start of the auction.

The most popular auctions dedicated to energy and photovoltaics are scheduled last. An auction for large wind and photovoltaic installations above 1 MW is scheduled for 8 June 2021, and an auction for small installations below or of 1 MW – for 11 June 2021.

For the individual auctions to be announced, the Regulation of the Minister of Climate and Environment must enter into force.

If you have any questions regarding the details of the RES auction schedule, you are welcome to contact Rödl & Partner experts.

The aim of the call for proposals is to support small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in pilot projects related to the transformation towards Industry 4.0 and implementing measures aimed at digitalisation, automation or robotics.

Terms and conditions of the call

Proposals can be submitted from 28 April 2021 to 30 June 2021. The annual sales revenues earned in 3 financial years should amount to least 2 million zloty. The maximum subsidy available to enterprises is 800 thousand zloty.

The applicant’s contribution should be at least 15% of the total cost of the investment project. Enterprises applying for the subsidy must have a road map, which is a plan of transformation of the enterprise towards Industry 4.0.

If you are interested in taking part in this call for proposals, you are welcome to contact Rödl & Partner experts who also advise in the energy law sector.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment and the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) have agreed to conduct an auction for the sale of electricity from RES at the turn of May and June 2021.

Announcement of the auction results

The President of the ERO will announce the auction results by 30 June 2021 in line with the Renewable Energy Sources Act. Each auction session will be announced in the Public Information Bulletin of the ERO no later than 30 days before the start of the auction.

Who will get support

The government expects that the proposed budgets will allow, among others, for the implementation of small photovoltaic projects (plants with a total installed output of up to 1 MW) with a total output of up to 1000 MW and large photovoltaic projects of up to 800 MW. Large wind farms with an output of around 600 MW are also expected to get support through the auction.

Rödl & Partner experts will keep you updated on further developments. If you are interested in advice on the energy law sector, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The call for applications for support from European Funds for photovoltaic projects with a nominal power of more than 2 MW starts on 31 March 2021. The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management will allocate 80 million PLN to this type of RES technology.

The part-financing per project cannot exceed 15 million euro and is determined by the state aid rules.

The deadline for applications expires on 28 May 2021.