Regulatory summary of the first year of cable pooling in Poland

Electricity generated from renewable energy sources ("RES") in Poland accounted for 25 % of total electricity production in 2024. One of the main constraints on a further dynamic increase in this share is the condition of the grid infrastructure. As a result, obtaining grid connection conditions for new RES installations is increasingly difficult.

To make better use of the available connection capacity, Poland has had in force Energy Law provisions since 1 October 2023 that allow for the sharing of an electricity grid connection, known as "cable pooling".

Under a shared connection, installations of the same type (e.g. two PV plants), hybrid installations (e.g. combining a wind farm and a PV plant or including an energy storage facility – "BESS") or two independently operating installations of a different nature may be connected. These installations may belong to a single owner or to several co-owners.

As 2024 was the first full year in which plant owners could use this form of grid connection, in early December 2025 the President of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) published a report summarising the experience with cable pooling to date and the conclusions drawn from it.

The first year of cable pooling in Poland – benefits

After one year of the regulations being in force, a total of 130 applications for a shared connection had been submitted, of which 62 resulted in the issuance of connection conditions. Photovoltaic projects dominate, particularly in the category of a "subsequent connection" to an already existing point, both in terms of the number of applications and capacity. In practice, investors are much more willing to add another installation to an existing connection than to design two new sources from the outset or to implement a so-called secondary connection.

Summarising the experience from the first year, the ERO's report points to several achievements. Cable pooling allows for better use of the allocated connection capacity and enables an increase in total installed RES capacity without the need for costly grid reinforcement. It also facilitates the combination of different technologies – for example, wind and PV – which stabilises the generation profile over time and makes it easier to match production to system demand. Using existing infrastructure lowers costs for both investors and operators, while shortening project implementation times. The mechanism itself aligns well with the concept of hybrid installations and could potentially include BESS in the future, as discussed below.

Barriers to fully exploiting cable pooling

At the same time, the report identifies several significant challenges. First, there is a risk of exceeding the total contractual capacity at the connection point, which is treated as unauthorised consumption and may result in both additional charges and in curtailment or suspension of energy injection into the grid – without compensation. Second, where multiple entities share a connection, the relationships between them are complex: formally only one party concludes the contract with the grid operator, and any disputes between generators sharing a connection can be resolved solely by the public courts. This increases contractual risk and makes it difficult to standardise such projects. Third, additional technical requirements and costs arise: each installation requires a separate grid-impact study and the installation of devices limiting the power fed into the grid, which is referred to in the planned changes described in the next part of this article.

One of the strongest factors discouraging the use of cable pooling is the structure of existing RES support schemes. Under the current legal framework, only one installation at a shared connection point may benefit from mechanisms such as FIT/FIP or the auction system. In practice, this makes it more difficult to add new sources to existing supported projects and limits the profitability of many configurations. On top of this come restrictions regarding energy storage: a shared connection with a BESS is only possible where the BESS is part of a hybrid RES installation, which limits the development of more flexible, multi-component configurations (e.g. several sources plus a BESS operating in a stand-alone formula). This last issue is expected to improve once the ongoing amendments to regulations enter into force.

What lies ahead for cable pooling – plans for expansion

As mentioned above, legislative work is currently underway within the Polish government on a draft amendment to the Energy Law, aimed, among other things, at simplifying the connection process, optimising the use of existing grid infrastructure and increasing the number of facilities that can be connected.

One element of the planned changes is to extend the cable-pooling formula by enabling all types of installations, including stand-alone BESS, to be implemented under a shared connection, while simplifying the procedures.

Extending the use of the cable-pooling tool to stand-alone BESS could significantly increase the efficiency of grid utilisation and improve the management of connection capacity. As a result, it would improve the efficiency and reliability of the national power system and facilitate the integration of a larger number of RES generation sources and BESS.

The draft also provides that modifying issued connection conditions to add another type of installation or to increase the installed capacity, provided that the connection capacity does not change in terms of electricity off-take from or injection into the grid, will be exempt from the obligation to carry out a full grid-impact analysis. An entity applying for connection conditions for another installation in a cable-pooling formula without increasing the connection capacity, or for a change in the technical parameters of an installation, would also not have to pay an advance towards the connection fee.

Summary of changes and conclusions for the future

One year on, cable pooling in Poland can be regarded as a promising, yet still niche, instrument for making better use of the grid. Its full potential will only materialise once it is more closely linked to the development of BESS and hybrid installations. It is necessary to reduce regulatory barriers and introduce contractual standardisation for cooperation between generators. Support schemes should also move away from the principle that only one installation at a shared connection point may benefit from them, so that the regulations encourage joint projects rather than hinder them.

authors: Grzegorz Filipowicz, Mateusz Kornacki-Wieteska