Developer Columbus Energy and Ukraine-based energy investor DTEK have agreed terms for a 133MW/532MWh BESS project in Poland, one of several to have won long-term capacity market contracts in the last 18 months.
DTEK renewable investment arm DRI has signed a preliminary agreement with Columbus to acquire the battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Chrzanów commune, southern Poland, with the transaction expected to close in mid-May.
Columbus will continue to oversee the development process until the project reaches ready-to-build (RTB) status, which is expected this year and will result in an additional bonus payment from DTEK, which has both power generation and retail utility businesses.
The 133MW power, 532MWh project won a capacity market contract in December 2022 for 125MW of its power, with an obligation to deliver from 2027. That year saw four BESS projects awarded contracts totalling 165MW, with the other three owned by developers Hynfra, OX2 and Energa Wytwarzanie (part of PKN Orlen group). Energy-storage.news interviewed Hynfra and OX2 for Premium articles last year.
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The 2023 capacity market auction, for delivery in 2028, saw the amount of BESS awarded capacity jump ten-fold to around 1.7GW, with Portugal-based developer and IPP Greenvolt win 70% of this before it was acquired by private equity firm KKR, in December.
The 2022 auction saw a higher clearing price, however, of PLN 406.35/kW (US$101) versus PLN 244.9/kW (US$61) in 2023.
Around the time of the 2023 auction, research firm LCP Delta wrote that Poland would lead BESS deployments in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region with around 9GW of projects awarded grid connections.
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 2nd Energy Storage Summit Central Eastern Europe on 24-25 September this year in Warsaw, Poland. This event will bring together the region’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place, as the region readies itself for storage to take off. Visit the official site for more info.
