Poland’s climate and environment minister has confirmed that the country’s offshore wind act has been formally adopted and is now state policy
The Minister, Michał Kurtyka, said Poland’s Council of Ministers adopted the draft act on support for offshore wind energy on 27 November 2020.
The act opens up the Polish sector of the Baltic for offshore wind development and is expected to have significant benefits for Polish companies and for the economy.
An initial 5.9 GW of offshore wind capacity is expected to be offered in mid-2022. The next round of projects will be launched via an auction process in 2025, with a second auction two years later. Support will be available for projects with a total capacity of 2.5 GW in each of the auctions.
In July 2020, the Polish Government and industry signed a letter of intent to co-operate on the development of offshore wind in the country.
It is hoped the agreement will lead to the development of a ‘sector deal’ for offshore wind similar to that agreed between the government and offshore wind industry in the UK.
The ‘Letter of Intent on co-operation for development of offshore wind power in Poland,’ was signed on 1 July 2020.
The signatories to the letter are the Minister of Climate, Minister of National Defence, Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, the Government Plenipotentiary for Renewable Energy, and the Plenipotentiary of the Minister of State Assets for Development of Offshore Wind Power, along with investors and industry, including the Polish Wind Energy Association and the Polish Offshore Wind Energy Society.
Speaking at the time that the letter of intent was agreed, Mr Kurtyka said development of offshore wind “is an opportunity for economic development in the country” and identified offshore wind as “a strong driver for the Polish economy.”
Agreed in October 2020, the latest iteration of the government’s draft act on promotion of energy generation from offshore wind, included several important modifications compared to the draft published in mid-January 2020.
These included the use of a two-sided contract for difference in the first round of projects, the capacity of which was increased from 4.6 GW to 5.9 GW.
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