Poland allocates 800 MW of solar in mixed PV-wind auction

The Polish Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) has announced the prices bid in its solar and wind auction for projects above 1 MW, held in November.

The lowest auction price bid was PLN190/MWh ($51.90) and the highest bid came in at PLN249.9, the regulator said. For comparison, the lowest price in the auction of the same kind held last year was PLN162.83/MWh and the highest price was PLN233.29. The average price, the ERO stated, was 7.5% higher than that of last year's procurement exercise, in which wind had the largest share.

“The prices are slightly higher than in the previous auction due to decreased share of wind projects that may still offer lower prices than large scale PV in Poland,” renewables correspondent Piotr Pająk, from the Gramwzielone.pl website, told pv magazine.

In the latest auction, solar had almost the same share as wind, with around 800 MW of allocated power. Overall, the ERO allocated approximately 1.7 GW of renewable energy power generation capacity in the auction, including approximately 900 MW of wind power.

Around 42 TWh of electricity was contracted in the auction, which was oversubscribed by 20%. The ERO said it selected 96 bids coming from 71 operators. Selected solar projects will be granted a 15-year contract-for-difference and will have to begin commercial operation in January 2023.

Looking forward to next year's tender, Pajak specified that there will be a limited number of wind projects available on the market, which may give solar a larger share than the 800 MW of this year's procurement exercise. “Next year, we may also see first auctions for hybrid projects including storage,” he further explained. 

The procurement rounds planned for next year could secure 1.7 GW of solar, according to the Polish Ministry of Climate. 

In the last PV and wind auction for up-to-1 MW projects, solar secured all the 750 MW capacity assigned. The identities of the winning bidders in this year's auction should be announced in the upcoming days.

Poland may reach its target of 7.8 GW of solar by 2030 – as outlined in the National Plan for Energy and Climate – by the middle of the decade, according to a new report by the Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (IEO).