Poland’s solar and energy storage industry is raising the alarm towards a draft amendment to the country’s energy law that could stall new renewable energy projects and undermine private investment, especially from domestic players.
The concerns focus on draft legislation UC84, which would change the rules for connecting renewable energy projects to the power grid. The Polish Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Association (known as Polskie Stowarzyszenie Fotowoltaiki i Magazynowania Energii or PSFiME) argues that the proposal introduces upfront financial requirements. While financial requirements are typical in battery energy storage projects, the approach is considered to be incompatible with standard project development and financing models given a non-refundable model.
In an interview with Onet.pl, PSFiME president Ewa Magiera said the draft law would shift the entire financial burden of grid capacity planning onto investors.
“The proposed mechanism carries financial risk for applicants seeking grid connection, which can only be limited by obtaining confidential information about the state of the grid from system operator employees,” she said.
Under UC84, developers would be required to pay an advance of $16.5( PLN 60) per kilowatt toward grid connection fees. The draft also introduces a new financial security of $8.75/kW for the first 100 MW of capacity and $16.5/kW above that threshold. In addition, and the most controversial, is the application of a non-refundable application fee of PLN 1/kW, capped at $27,520 (PLN 100,000).
Magiera said the scale of the changes would require immediate capital commitments well before projects reach construction readiness. “The scale of these changes means the need to engage capital of between PLN 8.9 billion and PLN 13.3 billion [$USD 2.46 billion USD $3.67 billion] immediately,” she said, adding that developers have already paid significant connection advances.
“In practice, only entities with easy access to large-scale financing, state-owned companies and large foreign corporations, will be able to meet these requirements,” said Magiera.
According to data from Poland’s transmission system operator, more than 145 GW of projects, excluding offshore wind, currently hold grid connection conditions, with around 70% controlled by private renewable energy investors.
“Project UC84 ignores how renewable investments are actually developed in Europe,” Magiera said. “No one reserves billions of zloty ‘just in case’ at the very start of the process.”
Battery buildout in Poland
In December, concerns were also raised in Poland as the grid’s capacity market has become less supportive of storage and flexibility assets. In the late 2025 auction for delivery year 2030, battery energy storage secured only around 685 MW of obligations after the system operator drastically reduced the availability factor applied to BESS. The move increased uncertainty for storage investors.
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