BESS in Poland 2026: energy storage market, revenues and financing

In October 2026 PSE, the Polish transmission system operator, published storage data for the first time: 1.3 GW of power and 3 GWh of battery capacity at all voltage levels, excluding pumped hydro (WNP).

The figure includes home batteries. According to the energy market agency ARE, prosumer storage totalled 791 MW and about 1.46 GWh at the end of June 2026 (Gramwzielone). The utility-scale segment is only starting: two Greenvolt Power plants commissioned in summer 2026, Turośń Kościelna and Ełk, each 200 MW and 800 MWh, hold more than half of the total capacity (1.6 of 3 GWh) and almost a third of the power (WNP).

The targets are much larger. PSE’s draft transmission development plan for 2027-2036 assumes 18.2 GW of storage in 2036 and 24 GW in 2040 (PSE, June 2026). That is many times today’s fleet, so demand for batteries, inverters, transformers and EPC services is booked years ahead.

Two sources of money define the real pipeline: the capacity market and grants.

Capacity contracts for new storage from the main auctions for 2028, 2029 and 2030 are held by 45 investors. Behind them stand about 11 GW in 169 units, and nearly half sits in five portfolios (Pierwsza Faza, based on URE results). In addition, in December 2025 the national environmental fund NFOŚiGW awarded PLN 4.15 billion to 172 projects with 3.9 GW and 14.5 GWh, to be commissioned by the end of 2028 (Ministry of Climate and Environment).

The grid connection queue is many times larger, but part of it will disappear. Under the March 2026 amendment to the Energy Law, investors holding older connection conditions, or agreements with distant connection dates, must pay advances or post security by 30 October 2026; otherwise the conditions lapse and the agreements expire by law (PSE). For new agreements the security is PLN 30 per kW up to 100 MW and PLN 60 per kW above, capped at PLN 12 million per agreement (Energa-Operator). Over the coming months the queue should lose projects without funding.

Less and less. A capacity contract is still a valuable, stable revenue line, but for new projects it is an add-on, not the basis for debt.

The derating factor (korekcyjny współczynnik dyspozycyjności, KWD) sets what share of a storage plant’s power can be offered in the auction. The lower it is, the smaller the capacity obligation and the less revenue each megawatt of batteries earns.

For storage the factor was 95% in the auctions for 2027 and 2028, 61.3% in the auction for 2029 (Parkiet) and only 13.39% in the auction for 2030 (Gramwzielone). In that last auction, settled in December 2025 at PLN 465.02/kW/year (URE), batteries won about 685 MW of obligations under 17-year contracts (WysokieNapiecie.pl). With such a low factor this corresponds to around 5 GW of new installations (WysokieNapiecie.pl).

There is no main auction in 2026, only quarterly additional auctions for 2028 (Gramwzielone). Projects without a capacity contract have to secure revenue another way.

In three markets: price arbitrage on the spot market, ancillary services for PSE and the capacity market. Flexibility services for distribution operators are still at pilot stage.

Spot market. The day-ahead and intraday markets of the Polish power exchange TGE traded about 48 TWh in 2025, of which 3.3 TWh intraday (TGE, sum of monthly reports). Growing solar creates deep midday price troughs and expensive evening hours: on 9 October 2026 the day-ahead price was PLN 0/MWh between 13:00 and 14:00 and PLN 698/MWh between 18:00 and 19:00 (GLOBEnergia).

Ancillary services. PSE buys FCR and aFRR reserves, and since 11 July 2025 aFRR energy has been settled on the European PICASSO platform (URE). The capacity fee is paid for every contracted hour, whether or not the reserve is activated, so it is more predictable than the energy leg. Activation prices can be extreme: since PICASSO, aFRR up has reached PLN 63,505/MWh and aFRR down has fallen to minus PLN 45,862/MWh (Modo Energy). In our view PSE’s reserve needs are small compared with the gigawatts of storage under construction, so reserve prices will fall.

All of these revenues depend on prices. An investor can show them in a model, but a bank values them conservatively.

A bank looks at stable cash flows over the debt tenor, not at the best case in the model. A pure merchant plant means lower leverage, a higher margin and extra security. That is why larger projects look for multi-year contracts with a creditworthy counterparty.

The largest public agreement of this kind is Statkraft’s 10-year tolling contract with Greenvolt Power for Turośń Kościelna and Ełk, 400 MW and 1.6 GWh, described by the parties as the largest of its kind in the EU (Gramwzielone). Both plants also hold 17-year capacity contracts from 2028. In October 2026 Greenvolt signed an agreement to sell them (Energetyka24). Contracted revenue turns a battery into an asset that can be sold.

In 2026 the first large project financings of standalone storage closed. Each relies on contracted revenue, and two involve export credit agencies.

Sources: Erste Group, ESS News, DRI, Inwestycje.pl, PKO Bank Polski, Northland Power via Investing News.

The pattern is clear: a long-term contract (capacity, optimisation or tolling), a known optimiser and a bank that knows the Polish market. The roles of Siemens Financial Services, KUKE and EDC also show that financing linked to the supplier or its export country is becoming a real argument in a tender.

Because the project has to pass a bank’s review, the supplier is assessed together with it. From our experience in EPC for solar, BESS and HV/MV substations, price and specifications are not what decides alone.

1. 01

   References a lender accepts

   Completed BESS projects of similar size, ideally in Europe and with the same grid operator, and financial statements that survive due diligence.

2. 02

   Warranties that transfer to the SPV

   EPC and battery OEM warranties must pass to the project company. The investor will ask whether the OEM warranty starts at delivery or at acceptance.

3. 03

   Continuous service cover

   A seamless handover from the EPC warranty to the LTSA and O&M contract, with no gap in responsibility.

4. 04

   A performance guarantee that fits the trader

   State of health (SOH) and cycle limits in the warranty must match the optimiser’s strategy. A warranty that restricts reserve trading lowers the value of the trader contract.

5. 05

   Contract model and financing

   Readiness for turnkey or balance of plant, when the investor buys batteries separately, and support with financing, for example through an export credit agency from the supplier’s country.

We profile the companies that build storage in Poland in our analysis of EPC contractors for solar and BESS. Sector data is collected on our page on energy storage in Poland.

the nech is a Warsaw-based outsourced commercial team for foreign energy companies entering Poland. For storage OEMs, integrators and EPC contractors we build the list of investors and contractors, open conversations with their procurement teams and run the pipeline to a signed contract.

Most clients start with our Poland Entry Sprint: first meetings and a go or no-go decision in 30 to 60 days. If you want to talk it through, book an intro call.