RWE is growing its renewables portfolio in Poland: The company secured a Contract for Difference (CfD) from the Polish Energy Regulatory Office for its onshore wind project Znin, with a planned installed capacity of 48 megawatts (MW). The onshore wind farm will be built in the north-western part of Poland. Construction work for a total of 16 turbines is anticipated to start by the end of this year. Start of commercial operation is expected by the end of 2023. In addition, RWE solar projects with a total capacity of 29 MWac received a CfD award.
“These auction successes strengthen our position as a leading producer of green electricity in Poland. Znin wind farm will add 48 megawatts to our portfolio and is located in the vicinity of our existing wind assets. This allows us to further utilize our inhouse services and capabilities”, explains Agnieszka Wojnarowska, Head of Onshore Development Europe, Scandinavia and Baltics at RWE Renewables. “We will also benefit from the expertise of our well-established wind business in the realisation of the awarded photovoltaic projects. They are each small in size, but we have grouped them into clusters in order to optimise construction and operations.”
Subject to the final investment decision, the installation works for the solar projects are anticipated to start next year. Commissioning is expected in late 2022. The photovoltaic plants are located in West Pomerania, Kuyavian Pomerania, Lubusz and Greater Poland – closely to RWE’s ground-mounted solar projects awarded in the 2019 auction (in total 32 MWac), as well as to existing RWE onshore wind farms.
According to the Polish Energy Regulatory Office, in the renewables energy auctions this June 1,016 out of 1,264 bids submitted for PV installations with up to 1 MW installed capacity, and 91 out of 111 bids submitted for PV and wind onshore installations above 1 MW were awarded. Minimum awarded price for <1MW installations was 207 PLN/MWh, and the auction cleared at 253.37 PLN/MWh. The auction for larger installations was undersubscribed, which resulted in awards between 179 and the maximum of 242.98 PLN/MWh.
Strong renewables footprint in Poland
RWE has already gained considerable experience in Poland and operates onshore wind farms here with a total capacity of approximately 370 MW (pro rata view), and has further onshore projects under construction and in development. For example, RWE is currently commissioning the onshore projects Dolice (48 MW) and Zukowice (33 MW) and has recently started the construction of the Lech Nowy Staw wind farm (12 MW) south-east of Gdansk. Along with its strong footprint in onshore wind, the company has successfully entered the Polish offshore market by acquiring a pipeline of development projects in the central Polish Baltic Sea. In spring, the Polish Energy Regulatory Office has awarded a CfD to the 350 MW F.E.W. Baltic II offshore wind project out of this pipeline. As one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, RWE targets to invest from 2020 until 2022 €5 billion net in renewable energy and to grow its global renewables portfolio to more than 13 gigawatts of net capacity.