Cable pooling means the possibility for two or more renewable energy source („RES”) installations to share one and the same connection to the electricity grid. The provisions on cable pooling were introduced into the Polish legal system by the Act of 17 August 2023 amending the Act on Renewable Energy Sources and certain other acts (Journal of Laws 2023, item 1762) and have been in force since 1 October 2023.

Pursuant to the wording of Article 7(1f) of the Act of 10 April 1997 – Energy Law (i.e. Journal of Laws 2024 No. 266 as amended) („Pr.Ener.”): Two or more renewable energy source installations belonging to one or more entities may be connected to the electricity grid with a rated voltage higher than 1 kV at a single point of connection. The provision of the first sentence shall not apply to renewable energy source installations for which the grid connection point is the installation of the final customer.

According to the Information of 22 March 2024 of the President of the Energy Regulatory Office („ERO”) No. 15/2024, concerning the issues causing the most frequent doubts in the area of grid connection („Information”): „The institution of sharing the connection infrastructure (connection) may be applied when the application for the issuance of connection conditions:

1. A) involves the first grid connection of two or more RES installations,
2. B) is being submitted in a situation where connection conditions have been previously issued for the first RES installation and a connection agreement has been concluded, and the entity being connected is applying for the connection of a second or subsequent RES installation,
3. C) is submitted in a situation where an RES installation is connected to the grid (existing installation and constructed connection) and the connected entity is applying for the connection of a second or subsequent RES installation.

Furthermore, according to the Information, in the absence of temporal restrictions, the cable pooling solution may also be applied to RES that was connected to the grid before 1 October 2023.

In addition, it should be noted that RES installations connected at a single site within a cable pooling institution do not have to belong to one and the same entity. If the installations do not belong to one and the same entity, these entities (owners of individual RES installations connected to the grid in one place), have to conclude an agreement that should regulate, inter alia: the principles of joint execution of the rights and obligations arising from the connection conditions, the grid connection agreement and the agreement for the provision of electricity transmission or distribution services, the obligation of each of the parties to the agreement to install equipment preventing the connection capacity from being exceeded, the authorisation of one of the parties to the agreement to represent all parties to the agreement before the electricity system operator or the President of the ERO in matters arising from the content of the agreement, or, what is particularly important, the declaration of each of the parties to the agreement to accept, together with the other parties to the agreement, joint and several liability towards the electricity system operator for exceeding the connection capacity.

Obviously, each RES installation to be connected to the grid as part of cable pooling must meet the connection requirements set out in the Pr. Ener., including in particular the connection application must be accompanied by an extract from the local spatial development plan, and in the absence of such a plan, a decision on land development conditions and a document confirming the title to the real property on which the RES installation is to be located.

To sum up, the cable pooling institution creates additional possibilities of using electricity grids with voltage rating above 1 kV by:

– connecting at one connection point two or more RES installations, both newly built ones and by connecting a newly built installation to an installation already connected to the grid (including before 1.10.2023),

– the possibility to combine various types of RES installations: photovoltaic, wind, hydro or biogas, but also, for example, a traditional photovoltaic installation with a vertical photovoltaic installation (including AGRO PV),

– the possibility to connect to the grid RES installations whose total capacity is higher than the connection capacity, with the introduction of appropriate technical and legal safeguards not to exceed the connection capacity.

Cable pooling also offers the possibility to use part of the land, which is suitable for RES installations but could not be used for this purpose so far due to the lack of grid connection possibilities, and will now be able to be used for a grid-connected RES installation in an existing cable pooling location.