Poland Working on Offshore Wind Power Transmission Regulation

Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment has drafted a regulation on the technical requirements for power transmission from offshore wind farms to the grid on land.

On 21 May, the Ministry submitted the draft regulation for inter-ministerial arrangements and public consultations, with the deadline for comments set for 4 June.

The new regulation specifies the technical requirements for offshore substations and other elements of an offshore transmission system that will ensure the electricity generated by wind farms off Poland will be reliably delivered to the country’s grid on land.

The solutions proposed in the draft regulation are intended to ensure that at the stage of construction, operation and decommissioning, the components of an offshore transmission system meet the requirements related to the safety of structures (in terms of strength, load-bearing capacity and stability), fire safety, safety of use, and environmental protection. The regulation is also looking to ensure that an offshore grid’s operational conditions are “suitable for the purpose of various types of devices and structures or installations included in the offshore wind farm”.

According to the Ministry, the new regulations will ensure the appropriate quality of infrastructure in the context of its integration with the power grid on land. 

The proposed regulation will cover both projects implemented under the first and the second phase of Poland’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) support scheme, for which the country recently received an approval from the European Commission.

Namely, the EUR 22.5 billion CfD scheme will be implemented in two phases until 2030.

During the first phase, offshore wind projects will be granted aid using the exception to the auction requirement, due to the existence of a very limited number of projects. The reference price for projects in the first phase will be administratively fixed based on their costs, with a maximum set at 319,60 PLN/MWh (EUR 71,82/MWh).

The second phase of the scheme will see Poland granting aid through open and competitive auctions which will be organised as of 2025, and the reference price of projects will be fixed based on the respective bid.