It is with great pleasure that we hand over to you a compendium of knowledge on the wind energy sector in Poland in 2021. The report is the result of the collaboration between the Polish Wind Energy Association (PSEW) – the largest non-governmental organization promoting the development of renewable energy sources, and the consulting company TPA Poland / Baker Tilly TPA and the law firm DWF Poland, which in their respective fields are among the leading experts and professional service providers for the energy industry.
After a four-year pause, during which the industry faced the effects of an unprecedented crisis and investment stagnation, we return to the tradition of an annual analysis and update of the Wind Sector Study. We outline the prospects for the sector’s development, as well as point to new business opportunities that are opening up. This would not have been possible if it had not been for the effort put into successively paving the way for wind energy projects frozen by the so-called distance law of 2016.
The dynamic increase in new capacity of onshore wind farms observed in the past months are the result of a gradual approval of the most advanced projects for the 2018–2020 auctions. This has increased the installed capacity potential to 6.7 GW (PSE data as of March 2021) and will exceed 10 GW in the next two or three years. The government’s announcement of the liberalization of the distance law, which will directly translate into another investment boom of an additional 3–4 GW by 2025, is another cause for optimism. The strategic goal is to unlock the full potential of Poland’s onshore wind energy. The PSEW estimates it at 22–24 GW by 2030–2035.
The actual scenario for the future will depend on the scale and nature of support for onshore wind development in the state’s energy policy and recovery plans after the COVID-19 pandemic. Onshore wind energy has every chance of becoming the answer to both the climate and the economic crisis. The pandemic has impacted global supply chains and pinpointed their vulnerabilities. But the wind industry has come out unscathed, showing remarkable resilience in the face of global economic turmoil. In Poland, we have also shown true determination by delivering, under these difficult circumstances, planned projects in line with tight schedules and by creating many valuable, knowledge-based jobs.
