POLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Tomasz Młodawski, Krzysztof Cichocki, Łukasz Wyszomirski and Krzysztof Fasula, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
and the second phase is designed to deliver up to 12 GW of offshore wind in total. Onshore wind For several years, building new onshore wind farms in Poland has been effectively impossible. A law intro- duced in 2016, known as the “10H rule”, requires wind turbines to be placed at a distance of at least ten times the turbine’s height from the nearest home or environ- mentally protected area. In practice, this blocks the development of onshore wind projects across most of the country. In 2023, Poland amended this rule slightly. The 10H requirement remains the default legal standard, but a local authority may now set a shorter distance through its local spatial development plan, provided it is not less than 700 metres. Therefore, it is now up to indi- vidual municipalities whether they update local plans to facilitate onshore wind investments. So far, progress has been slow. Many municipalities have yet to adopt local plans that would allow shorter distances, and political discussions on any further amendments remain ongoing. Any change would need to balance energy policy objectives with the concerns of local communities. At the same time, EU law now requires member states to designate specific acceleration zones where renewable energy projects benefit from significantly faster permitting procedures. Poland is in the process of transposing these require- ments into national legislation, which could create additional pressure to revisit the 10H rule. Solar power The rise of solar power in Poland has been remark- able. In 2018, installed solar capacity was negligible. By 2025, it exceeded 20 GW, making Poland one of the largest solar markets in the EU. Growth has been driven by government auction support as well as the net-metering and net-billing incentive schemes. This rapid growth has revealed weaknesses in the grid connection process. Developers trying to con- nect large solar farms have faced long queues, with applications sometimes taking years to process. In response, Poland has introduced significant legislative changes to tackle the hurdles in accessing the grid.
One key reform is the introduction of flexible and con- figurable connection agreements, which allow gen- erators and storage operators to connect on terms that better reflect actual network capacity, making more efficient use of available connection headroom. The changes apply across both the transmission and distribution networks. In parallel, the amended framework requires network operators to disclose more information about available connection capac- ity, follow standardised procedural timelines and the permitting milestone deadlines, and apply clearer cri- teria when assessing connection applications. These reforms are designed to reduce the backlog and make the process more transparent, although their practical impact will take time to assess. A growing concern is curtailment without compensa- tion. At times of high solar output, grid operators have had to instruct solar farms to reduce their generation to keep the system stable. The right to financial com- pensation for non-market redispatching in Poland is limited due to widespread grid connection agreements that do not provide for a guarantee of firm offtake. Nuclear power Poland has decided to build its first nuclear power station. The project involves the construction of three reactors, each with a capacity of 1,250 MW, giving a total generation capacity of up to 3,750 MW. The plant will be built on the Baltic coast by a consortium of US companies (Westinghouse and Bechtel), and will be owned and operated by a fully state-owned com- pany. Total capital expenditure is estimated at around EUR42 billion. In December 2025, the European Com- mission approved a state aid package for the project consisting of three elements: • an equity injection covering approximately 30% of the project costs; • state guarantees covering 100% of the debt financing; and • a two-way CfD providing stable revenues for a period of 40 years. The first reactor is expected to be operational in the second half of the 2030s.
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