Today, wholesale electricity prices in Poland today (3 October) averaged 503 PLN/MWh (Market Coupling auction) and was one of the lowest in Europe, Instytut Jagielloński announced. This was caused primarily by strong wind. Meteorological conditions allowing for such a yield were last seen at the beginning of April. Wind farm output will satisfy more than 40% of electricity demand in the morning and approximately 30-35% for most of the day. Unfortunately, onshore wind — the least expensive source of electricity that actually decreases wholesale electricity prices — does not exploit its potential. The act unblocking onshore wind development has been submitted by the government to the Sejm, but still has not been processed further.
“Today, the price of electricity produced from RES installations such as wind farms is three to five times lower than in case of conventional power plants using coal or gas. This is the best remedy for high electricity bills. Unfortunately, the renewable energy sector does not exploit its potential. All depends on the Sejm now — a draft that will once again unleash the development of the least expensive, green technology that will make Poland energy-independent and secure, is pending adoption,” said Marcin Roszkowski, President of Instytut Jagielloński.
The way to secure supply of inexpensive wind energy is blocked by the lack of appropriate regulations. The act unblocking wind power development has been submitted by the government to the Sejm, but still has not been processed further. This is strange given the vast public support for such changes — today, no technology enjoys such a high support in Poland as RES. At the peak of a crisis related to coal shortage and skyrocketing electricity prices more than 60 percent Polish citizens want urgent adoption of an act liberalising wind farm development, an IBRiS poll for “Rzeczpospolita” reveals.
Unblocking onshore wind is a strategic decision in the face of extraordinarily high electricity prices — wind is the least expensive source of electricity that may bring the fastest reduction in electricity bills for Polish families and decrease Poland’s dependence on imported coal or gas. Research demonstrates that without wind energy, our electricity bills would have been substantially higher. An analysis prepared by Instytut Jagielloński demonstrates that after unblocking and launching new wind farm investments, Polish families, industry and the economy may save as much as PLN 14 billion on electricity bills.
“By adopting the 10 H act, the Sejm will enable Polish families and entrepreneurs to save PLN 14 billion. Therefore, it is no surprise that the entire wind industry, but also other industries, local governments and the community expect onshore wind development to be unblocked as soon as possible. It will not only increase our energy security and independence from Russian fuels, but also contribute to lower electricity bills. Today, electricity from wind is 5 times less expensive than from conventional fuels, and new onshore wind farms mean more green and inexpensive electricity and lower electricity bills,” said Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association.
The analysis carried out by IJ — “Onshore wind and wholesale electricity prices on the spot market in Poland”[1] — demonstrates that production of electricity from onshore wind farms has a substantial impact on the decrease of average wholesale electricity prices in Poland. Data for January 2020–March 2022 clearly demonstrate that higher share of onshore wind farm in the satisfaction of domestic demand for electricity translates into lower spot market prices.
[1] http://psew.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/prezentacja-LEW-1.pdf