Poland Announces Plans To Increase 1.1 GW Of Solar Energy
Sep 11, 2019
The Energia Przykona division of Warsaw-based NeoInvestments has signed an agreement with China's Sinogy Electric Engineering to conduct a 600 MW solar project in Pryzkona, Turek County.
The project also involved Strategic Investments Partners AG, Sinog's European partner in China, announced at a press conference at the Pryzkona Municipal Building.
The solar park in the Greater Poland Province of the western part of the country will be built on the original mining land and will produce approximately 630 GWh per year. Energia Przykona said the developer of the project hopes to get grid connection approval next month and get an environmental license in the first quarter of next year.
Chief Operating Officer Jacek Rusiecki said that on-site mining activities have led to a significant reduction in groundwater and the plant will be close to the transmission network. “This is the best way to harness the potential of this area and offers many economic and environmental benefits,” he added in a press release issued by the company.
Energia Przykona said it is considering storage as part of the project but did not disclose the terms related to the sale of electricity.
In a separate development, Poland's state-owned utility GRUPA Energetyczna (PGE) signed a letter of intent for silver and copper producers KGHM Poland MiedźSA (KGHM) for the deployment of 500 megawatts of solar power capacity at miners' sites.
The utility said in a press release that "this will enable one of the world's largest copper and refined silver producers to purchase energy directly from the PGE Group." The mining company's annual consumption is about 2.5 TWh, Following Poland's national railway, Poland's second largest energy consumer. “The PV project will be implemented by PGE and KGHM in a joint venture formula that covers the development, construction and operation of the plant,” the utility company added.
The power company said the 500 MW plan is part of its renewable energy strategy, which aims to have an installed capacity of 2.5 GW by 2030. The utility's renewable energy division, PGE Energia Odnawialna, owns and operates a small solar park in GóraŻary, as well as 14 wind farms, 29 hydroelectric plants and 4 pumped storage power stations.
In early June, PGE signed a letter of intent with a chemical company, Grupa Azoty Kopalnie i Zaklady Chemiczne Siarki Siarkopol SA and Grupa Azoty SA, for a large solar project that is expected to be supplied to electricity under the Enterprise Power Purchase Agreement.
Two weeks ago, another power company and coal miner Tauron Polska Energia SA announced a plan to deploy a terrestrial photovoltaic system at its unused location. The coal company and electricity supplier ZespółElektrowniPątnów-Adamów-Konin SA said in November that it would deploy a large photovoltaic power plant in the depleted area of the extensive Adamów brown coal mine in Turek County.
