Independent power producer RP Global is working on a pipeline of solar and wind projects in Poland to deliver more than 1GW of capacity in the next two to four years.
The first plants to be commissioned from the pipeline by mid-2022 include five PV parks totalling approximately 180MW, located in different regions of Poland.
RP Global, which has headquarters in Austria and Spain, been present in Poland’s wind sector for more than 15 years, with the latest move marking its entry in the country’s solar sector.
The company said that that despite lower radiation levels compared with southern Europe, the falling cost of solar panels as well as the growing capacities in Poland’s auctions make the country’s PV market “increasingly attractive”.
“The opening up of the Polish government for low cost, environmentally friendly technologies, providing highly competitive LCOE, makes for an attractive market, even if Poland may not be the first country that comes to mind when thinking of attractive solar radiation,” said RP Global CEO Gerhard Matzinger.
The company will work in close cooperation with local developers to bring the portfolio to fruition, and has appointed Wojciech Glocko, former CEO of Polish wind power developer EPA Wind, to head up project development.
“The renewable energy market in Poland is growing fast and RP Global as a well-established player in the market will play an important role in Poland’s decarbonisation,” Glocko said.
Last year saw Poland install 2.2GW of solar capacity, more than double the amount from 2019, according to figures from SolarPower Europe. Only Germany, the Netherlands and Spain deployed more solar in Europe last year, the trade body said.
Poland earlier this month adopted a new energy strategy that will see the country target 5-7GW of solar PV capacity by 2030, when it is hoped the share of renewables in final energy consumption will rise to at least 23%. Polish solar associations, however, told PV Tech these deployment targets underestimate the growth potential of the sector.
