As of the end of 2023, Poland had exceeded 17GW of cumulative installed solar PV capacity, as reported by the Institute for Renewable Energy (IEO), a Polish research group.
At the close of December 2023, Poland's cumulative installed solar PV capacity had reached 17,057MW, the largest among all renewable sources. This was followed by wind (9,428MW) and hydro (979MW).
Last year, Poland's new solar additions reached 4.6GW, as calculated by the IEO based on a study published in May 2023. By the end of 2022, Poland's cumulative installed solar PV capacity had surpassed 12.4GW.
In recent years, Poland has been steadily increasing its installed solar capacity. As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, the country had 18GW of solar PV projects with grid connection approvals, according to the IEO.
The research group reported that by the third quarter of 2023, a total of 6,929 projects had obtained grid connection approvals. This represented a 41% increase in the number of projects and a 46% increase in total generation capacity compared to the previous database with information at the end of the first quarter of 2023.
More recently, the Polish transmission system operator (TSO) Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE) announced a plan to invest PLN64 billion (US$16 billion) in new transmission lines by 2034. The TSO's draft development plan between 2025-2034 aims to add over 4,800km of new 400kV line tracks to upgrade Poland's grid, allowing for 45GW of solar PV capacity to be added by 2034. Utility-scale PV projects would contribute around 20GW of capacity, while rooftop solar would contribute 25GW.
In its updated national energy climate plan (NECP), Poland aims to have 29.3GW of installed solar PV by 2030, which is 22GW more than the previous NECP submitted in 2019.
Source: PV Tech