Renewable Energy Sources Act: Changes in the funding priorities

At the beginning of June, the Sejm (the lower chamber of the Polish parliament) adopted amendments to the Renewable Energy Sources Act, introduced by the national-conservative PiS party. This law has been adopted from the previous Parliament last year, with the objective to replace the support system of the green certificates by an auction system. The auction system is based on quantities of electricity from renewable energy sources, announced by the government which have to be delivered within a period of 15 years. These quantities are then provided at a fixed price which was set on the auction by the bidder, who underbids the competitors.

In the now adopted amendment once accepted funding priorities were significantly altered. It was decided that these technologies can expect the highest support rate from the new auction system which can ‘guarantee that the energy will be generated in a stable and predictable manner’. Using this formula, it is determined that the wind turbines and solar installations receive the lowest state support. The amendment returns back to the possibility of a full support of technologies using co-firing of biomass (primarily wood) in power generation from coal. In this context, the amendment introduces the term ‘local biomass’. It refers to biomass that is obtained within a radius of 300 km to the energy-generator system. With this scheme, biomass from other EU countries cannot be used as a source of green energy within energy-generator plants that receive public funding.

For the Polish Wind Energy Association-Economy, the amendment is inconsistent with European Union law. More especially, they refer to the fact that, under the influence of the coal lobby, technologies and generator facilities using co-firing of biomass with coal for energy generation purposes will receive full public support.

Source: ‘Wirtschafts-Markt Polen’, Issue 232