Renewable energy in Poland - Auction by-laws and dates in 2017

The Polish energy regulator published its auction by-laws – under Poland’s renewable energy support scheme – in November 2016, and confirmed timings for the first auction sessions (to be held on 30 December).

The law
The Renewable Energy Sources Act, 2015  (Journal of Laws 2015, 478)

The regulator
The Energy Regulatory Office

The auction by-laws mirror provisions of the Renewable Energy Sources Act and include extensive detail on participants’ access to the auction platform.

The by-laws cover

1. The creation of profiles on the online auction platform.
2. For renewable energy installations that started operating before 1 July 2016
   The submission of declarations of participation–to include the installation’s name, location, installed electrical capacity, and method of feeding power into the distribution system–and their verification by the Energy Regulatory Office (verifying the date on which the installation first fed into the grid electricity for which it was awarded green certificates).
3. For renewable energy installations that will start operating after the auction closes
   Applications for certificates of admission to participate in an auction.
4. The conduct of auctions, including requirements around the submission and amendment of bids and the finalisation of auctions.
5. The submission of a cash deposit or bank guarantee: an amount equal to PLN 30 per kW of installed electrical capacity of the renewable energy installation prior to participation. (This sum is returned to the successful bidder within 60 days from the start date of electricity generation, and to losing bidders within 14 days from close of auction.)

Timings

Auctions should be held at least once a year. Each session will last at least 8 hours. An auction should be held if at least three valid bids have been submitted.

No deadlines are given for verification of a declaration of participation. It has to go to the online platform sufficiently in advance to “objectively allow for the verification”. If it is submitted too late to allow for verification before the auction closes, the installation will not be able to participate. The associated risk is borne by the investor.

An application for certificate of admission has to go to the online platform sufficiently in advance to “objectively allow for the verification”. The Energy Regulatory Office will issue (or refuse to issue) the certificate of admission within 30 days from filing the application (Renewable Energy Sources Act, 2015).

The bank guarantee should be valid for (as from December 31 of the year in which the auction is held):

• 2 months (for existing renewable energy installations which started operating before 1 July 2016)
• 25 months (for planned PV projects)
• 73 months (for planned offshore wind farms)
• 49 months (for other planned renewable energy installations).

The investor

An investor may act personally (through its Management Board) or through its lawyer-in-fact (pełnomocnik) or authorised agent (prokurent) but a bid has to be signed by the investor (not by its lawyer-in-fact or authorised agent).

30 December 2016

• 06:00 to 14:00: Auction for existing installations that use only agricultural biogas and have an installed capacity of ˂1 MW.
• 07:00 to 15:00: Auction for existing installations that use only agricultural biogas and have an installed capacity of >1 MW.
• 08:00 to 16:00: Auction for installations that belong to categories other than those listed in the Renewable Energy Sources Act and have an installed capacity of ˂1 MW (in practice, this means PV projects, wind farms and hydro power plants) and will start operating after the auction closes.
• 09:00 to 17:00: Auction for existing installations that emit ˂100 kg of carbon dioxide per MWh, have a capacity utilisation rate of >3,504 MWh/MW per year and an installed capacity of ˂1 MW.