Poland has announced its long-awaited first auction to support offshore wind farms. This historic event, scheduled for December 17, 2025, opens a new chapter in the development of the country’s renewable energy sector. Investors will compete for contracts that will support the construction of projects with a total capacity of 4 GW, which will significantly contribute to the transformation of the Polish energy sector.

The President of the Energy Regulatory Office (Urzą Regulacji Energetyki URE) announced the details of the AMFW/1/2025 auction, which will take place electronically between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The main purpose of the auction is to select offshore wind farm projects that will receive 25-year contracts for difference (CfD). These contracts will give producers the right to cover negative balances for electricity, stabilizing their revenues and reducing market risk.

Support in this historic auction will be available for up to 4 GW of installed electrical capacity. The winners will be the producers who offer the lowest price for electricity from future farms. This price, indicated in the offer, cannot be higher than the maximum price specified in the regulation of the Minister of Climate and Environment. Depending on the location of the farm, the maximum price will range from PLN 485.71 to PLN 512.32/MWh. As in the case of auctions for other renewable energy sources, this support mechanism will be financed from the RES fee collected by the transmission system operator.

Auction winners will have seven years from the end of the auction to start producing electricity from their farms.

Race Against Time: Qualification Criteria and Challenges for Investors

To be admitted to the auction, entities must obtain a certificate from the President of the Energy Regulatory Office. This requires meeting a number of criteria, including having:

  • conditions for connection to the grid,
  • a detailed financial schedule for construction,
  • a supply chain plan for materials and services,
  • and, most importantly, a valid environmental decision for the implementation of the investment.

It is the issue of the environmental decision that raises the most concerns. For the auction to take place and be decided, at least three entities must be admitted to participate and submit three valid bids. So far, only Polenergia and Equinor have valid environmental permits for the 1,560 MW Bałtyk-1 farm. Other key players, such as PGE (for the Baltica-1 farm with a capacity of 0.9 GW) and Orlen (for the Baltic East farm with a capacity of approx. 1 GW), are still awaiting these decisions. There is a real risk that the auction will not be able to take place for this reason.

In response to these challenges, the Ministry of Climate and Environment is working intensively on an amendment to the so-called offshore act (draft UD162). The draft published in January provides for the introduction of a conditional pre-qualification mechanism. Thanks to this, investors who are only waiting for an environ able to obtainw a preliminary certificate of admission to the auction, valid for 12 months.

In response to these challenges, the Ministry of Climate and Environment is working intensively on an amendment to the so-called offshore act (draft UD162). The draft published in January provides for the introduction of a conditional prequalification mechanism. Thanks to this, investors who are only waiting for an environmental decision will be able to obtain a preliminary certificate of admission to the auction, valid for 12 months. However, it should be remembered that a valid decision will have to be provided before the auction itself. The amendment also opens the way for producers developing projects under phase I support to participate in phase II auctions, which was previously impossible.

When announcing the auction rules on May 27 this year, the President of the Energy Regulatory Office noted that due to ongoing work on the amendment, the document may still require updating.

In the event that the auction scheduled for 2025 cannot take place or be resolved due to an insufficient number of eligible entities, the possibility of holding an “intervention auction” in 2026 has been provided for.