Poland screwed green power plants: it will be too much

In August, the operator of the Polish power grid limited the production of electricity at solar and wind power plants. Their capacity turned out to be too high for the needs of the country.

"On August 11-16, the PSE issued an order to limit energy production at solar power plants. The cuts also concerned wind farms — in their case, the operator reduced generation on August 11, 15 and 16," BiznesAlert writes.

Also, the newspaper reports, the operator of the power system limited solar power plants on August 20 — also for six days.

Similar restrictions were in effect at the very beginning of August — from August 3 to August 10.

"In other words: it was hard to find a 'normal' day in August. The energy system almost every day had to slow down renewable sources in one form or another," BiznesAlert continues.

In his opinion, repeated restrictions reveal one of the main problems of the rapid development of renewable energy in the Poland.

"During periods of high production from photovoltaic and wind energy, the system still has nowhere to redirect the surplus. The solutions are familiar — energy storage, network expansion, cross-border connections, flexible consumption management. Unfortunately, none of them has yet kept up with the pace of new generating capacities," BiznesAlert writes.

Moreover, green power plants did not just reduce power. They will receive compensation, as the reduction occurred by non-market methods.

"It mitigates the effects, not eliminates the cause. The money goes to the producers, but the energy that could enter the network is still lost," the publication noted.

According to the NordPool exchange, in August the wholesale cost of electricity rose to 135 euros per MWh - to the highest level since January, which is a record for the last few years.

According to the PSE operator, on the afternoon of August 26, the share of solar generation in electricity production in the country is 48.5%, and wind — 5.5%. The rest is almost completely closed by thermal power plants.