Associations of renewable energy producers and customers alike called the government to refrain from measures destabilising the certificates of origin market. Manual control of the green certificates system will result in irreparable harm for producers and block new RES investments. The reputation of Poland as a country open to investment will be thwarted once again. Potential investors intending to open new plants in Poland will have to be told that they will be incapable of powering their business with renewable energy, as there will be no RES investments projects due to excessively high regulatory risk, the call by representatives of Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, Renewable Energy Association and Polish Wind Energy Association states.
Ministry of Climate and Environment presented a new version of the draft Regulation adjusting the quantitative share of the volume of electricity stemming from cancelled certificates of origin. Unfortunately, at a very last moment the draft was subject to radical changes that undermine the operation of existing green electricity sources. Decrease in the quota obligation to 5% (i.e. more than three times less than in 2022) will result in a dramatic increase in oversupply of green certificates, leading to a collapse of their price (up to historic low below 30 PLN/MWh).
Signatories of the call state that “in connection with the draft published on 11 August and submitted for further legislative works, we are facing an unbelievable and incomprehensible abandonment of the original scenario. Minister for Climate and Environment is cutting down its own proposal of the quota obligation submitted for consultations by almost 60 percent. Such a change cannot be substantiated by available analytical data. Therefore, we warn against the inevitable consequences of a rapid increase in cumulated oversupply, hence destabilisation of the certificates of origin system, when the quota obligation is adopted at the level of 5%.
Destabilisation of the bottom-up market that required so much effort to be built may result in decreased supply, hence increased green electricity prices. This must end in higher electricity prices for customers, which cannot be forever shielded by interventions. Only a rapid, consistent growth of sustainable and inexpensive generation sources in Poland may translate into long-term decrease of energy costs. Therefore, we warn against anarchy on the certificates of origin market and strongly request bringing the works on the version of the regulation published on 11 August to a halt and restoring at least 11% obligation for 2024, in line with the original draft of the regulation,” the signatories call.
The signatories’ position demonstrates that although such level will not bring certainty related to the cumulated oversupply of certificates of origin, but will allow for avoiding the tragic consequences of destabilisation the market is now facing. Destabilisation whose price will be paid not only by electricity producers, but also by cusomers, which will affect the strength and competitiveness of the Polish economy.
The first symptom confirming that the adoption of the proposed regulations will entail the collapse of the green certificates market is the first exchange session held after the announcement of the draft, where green certificate price fell by almost 50%, from 163.87 PLN/MWh to 82.50 PLN/MWh. This is the largest single fall in green certificate quotations in its history since 2005.
READ THE FULL CALL (only polish version)