On September 17, 2021, at the plenary session, the Sejm rejected the Senate’s amendment to the amendment to the act on renewable energy sources, restoring the provision allowing the National Agricultural Support Center to be transferred without a tender to capital companies operating in the electricity, crude oil and gaseous fuels sectors – supervised by the minister for state assets and investing in renewable energy, in the lease of agricultural land for the construction of units producing energy from renewable sources.
Pursuant to the Act, RES energy producers, after notification of public aid to the European Commission, will be able to apply for support under the auction system until the end of 2027. In addition, the maximum period of receiving support for installations is to be extended until June 30, 2047, in particular regarding:
- the obligation to purchase unused electricity at a fixed price or the right to an additional payment to the market price of electricity under the so-called FIT and FIP systems;
- the obligation to purchase electricity at a fixed price or the right to an additional payment to the market price of electricity under the auction system.
The draft also includes a statutory delegation to issue a regulation specifying the amounts and values of electricity from renewable energy sources that may be sold by auction in the calendar years 2022 – 2027. Importantly, the quantities and values in question may not be reduced by changing this regulation.
In addition, the current practice of the President of the Energy Regulatory Office regarding the method of determining the total installed electrical capacity of RES installations will be confirmed at the level of the Act. This is important in the context of changing the qualification of the obligation – from a concession to a registered one – for RES energy producers from several thousand installations. After the change, entrepreneurs who hold a license and their installations meet the conditions for a small installation will be entered into the register of energy producers in a small installation.
The draft provides for the limitation of the concession obligation for entrepreneurs conducting business activity in small renewable energy installations. It is about raising the minimum threshold for a concession from the total installed electric capacity of 0.5 MW to 1 MW or the available thermal capacity in combination from 0.9 MW to 3 MW.