The Senate passed the offshore law
The act on promoting electricity generation in offshore wind farms adopted by the Senate on January 13, 2021 will now be signed by the President of the Republic of Poland.
Michał Kurtyka, Minister of Climate and Environment, noted that the unanimous adoption of the act proves that the regulation supporting the construction of offshore wind farms is needed and awaited. - Today Poland is ready to implement offshore wind energy into its National Power System - emphasized Michał Kurtyka.
Long-term perspective
The purpose of the act is to use the potential of wind energy in the Baltic Sea and to create a legal framework that will support - in the perspective of many years - all entities interested in the development of the offshore wind energy sector in Poland.
The main elements of the act are:
- two-phase support system,
- improvements in administrative procedures,
- rules for connecting producers to the power grid,
- management of power evacuation from offshore wind farms
- local supply chain development.
Support for investors
The support model provided for in the act is based on the concept of the so-called a bilateral contract for difference, which is successfully applied in the case of the currently functioning support system for RES. Electricity producers in offshore wind farms, who will be admitted to the support system, will be entitled to cover the so-called negative balance. In practice, this means covering the difference between the market price of energy and the price enabling producers to cover the costs of producing electricity at sea.
Offshore wind farms will be put into operation successively, probably from 2024 to 2033. The period of operation of a single wind farm is approx. 25 years. The integration of offshore wind farms with the National Power System will be facilitated by the fact that the construction of new capacities will be divided into stages.
The new solutions will have a positive impact on the development of the local supply chain and domestic industry in the sector related to the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. According to them, the producer will inform about the participation of local entities in his investment throughout the process of applying for support and conduct a technical dialogue with interested market participants.
Increase your powers
According to the draft "Poland's Energy Policy until 2040", one of the strategic and priority directions is the PLN 130 billion investment program for the construction of offshore wind farms in Poland. Thanks to it, approximately 8 to 11 GW of installed capacity will be created in the Polish exclusive economic zone of the Baltic Sea by 2040. It will have a huge impact on the structure of generation capacity in the energy sector and the development of the transmission network. It will also allow Poland to meet its climate and environmental goals in the field of renewable energy sources and reduction of CO2 emissions.