2020 Polish solar industry hits a new high

     Polish Renewable Energy Organization Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (IEO) reported that nearly 1,000 photovoltaic pv solar system projects received preliminary grid connection approvals in the first half of this year, and said these figures may herald another record year for the solar industry.
 
    The IEO stated: “The total power generation with permits is on average twice as high as in the same period in 2019. The only exception is April, in which the recorded values ​​of the permits issued in 2019 and 2020 are similar.”

    Last year, the initial grid-connected approval capacity of photovoltaic projects reached about 2 GW, and the final approved project capacity was about 730 MW. In the first half of this year, the power generation with preliminary permits exceeded 1.3 GW, and the final approved capacity reached 600 MW.

    The institute stated: “If the speed of the first half of this year is maintained in the next few months of 2020, the record may fall, and grid-connected conditions will receive more than 2 GW of photovoltaic projects. In addition, more and more large-scale photovoltaic projects It began to appear on the Polish market. At present, 29 photovoltaic projects with a capacity of more than 10 MW [single project] are eligible for grid connection, and their total capacity exceeds 1 GW."

    The Polish Ministry of Climate said that in addition to the 1.5 GW of solar power that the government expects to contract in this year’s two rounds of procurement, it may also allocate 1.7 GW of solar power in the renewable energy auction next year. The government is expected to bid for about 800 megawatts of solar energy for projects with a power generation capacity of 1 megawatt at this year's event; and the bid for large-scale facilities will be 700 megawatts.

    Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne, the Polish national grid operator, said that as of the end of July, the country’s solar power generation capacity had reached 2261.3 megawatts. According to the latest report of the IEO, the solar power generation target of 7.8 GW by 2030 may be achieved ahead of schedule by 2025, which is also part of the national energy and climate plan.