The latest round of renewable energy auctions in Poland has allocated approximately 486MW of solar PV capacity and seen just three of a proposed seven auctions settled successfully.
Of all the auctions conducted this month, over 96% of the winning bids were for solar projects – 197 of a possible 204. The auction for projects of 1MW capacity or below received the highest number of bids, with propositions from 88 producers resulting in 150MW of awarded solar capacity. However, the auction ended with only PLN434 million (US$98.8 million) of energy sold, which the Polish Energy Regulatory Office said was just over 11% of the capacity intended for sale.
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The reference price for this auction was PLN375/MWh (US$85.39/MWh). The minimum sale price was PLN244.77/MWh(US$55.73) and the maximum was PLN327.73/MWh (US$74.63).
The auction for projects larger than 1MW capacity ended with 336MW of solar PV awarded through 46 offers to 37 producers. Approximately 245MW of onshore wind was also awarded. 57% of the total energy earmarked for sale was ultimately sold, around 6.4TWh, and the minimum sale price was PLN236.77/MWh (US$53.91) for solar PV. The reference price was PLN355/MWh (US$£80.82).
One of the winners in this auction was OX2. The Swedish-headquartered renewables developer secured 100MW worth of solar PV and 50MW/100MWh of battery storage, on which it plans to begin construction next year. The win brings OX2’s Polish project portfolio to around 2.5GW.
The third settled auction was exclusively for hydroelectric power plants, and was visited by just one producer. The other four planned auctions received insufficient interest and are yet to be settled.
The equivalent auctions last December saw 870MW of solar capacity awarded.
Rafał Gawin, president of the Energy Regulatory Office cited the geopolitical situation as a reason for the disappointing uptake in this auction round. He said that the fluctuations and uncertainty of energy prices and changing legal requirements have made auctions less attractive to power producers, and expects that long-term power purchase agreements may represent a more attractive model.
Poland was the third largest installer of solar PV in the EU this year, according to SolarPower Europe’s recent market report. Last week, the European Investment Bank unveiled plans to invest in modernising the distribution networks in Poland and the Czech Republic to facilitate greater adoption of renewable energy as part of the REPowerEU scheme.