Poland Installed 131.6 MW New Solar In Q1/2019

• According to PSE of Poland, the country installed 131.6 MW of new solar capacity in Q1/2019 taking cumulative till March 2019 to 603 MW
• Renewable Energy Association of Poland SEO says according to PSE, till 2018 the solar capacity of the nation was 471.4 MW
• Government plans to continue with auctions for renewable energy sources with solar to generate a lot of interest; it expects next auction to see as much as 750 MW of PV contracted

Polish Renewable Energy Association Stowarzyszenie Energii Odawialnej (SEO) says Poland installed 131.6 MW of new solar power capacity in Q1/2019, taking the cumulative for the nation to 603 MW as on March 31, 2019. Referring to the numbers released by national electric utility Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE), it said the utility recorded 471.4 MW of PV capacity in 2018.

Polish solar PV industry association SBF Polska PV and GLOBEnergia claimed cumulative capacity at the end of 2018 for Poland to have reached 486.5 MW, according to provisional numbers compiled by the organisations. Their evaluation suggested 214 MW came online in 2018 alone (see Poland Installed 214 MW New Solar In 2018).

"In the current quarter (Q2/2019), the pace of photovoltaic investments should sustain the connections of the last PV power plants of unit capacity up to 1 MW, which were covered by guarantees of sale of electricity at the prices offered in the second auction at the end of June 2017. In this case, there is time to start energy production by the middle of this year," according to SEO.

The government has been holding renewable energy auctions for solar PV and wind power projects for capacities of up to 1 MW since 2016. The Polish Ministry of Energy is planning to hold more such auctions and expects solar PV to generate a lot of interest. The next auction should see as much as 750 MW of PV capacity contracted.

Out of 870 MW solar auctioned during 2016 and 2017 auctions, only 36% has so far come online, according to Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (IEO). In November 2018, the 3^rd auction saw a little over 500 MW awarded which is expected to be operational by May 2020 (see 127 MW PV Online In Poland Out Of 870 MW Auctioned).

In February 2019, Entrepreneurship and Technology Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz told Reuters the government expects 200 MW of solar panels to be installed in 2019 and the same amount added annually in the coming years, 'thanks to planned incentives for smaller electricity consumers to invest in solar panels', according to the report.