ESSEN, Germany, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- German energy company RWE said Monday the Polish renewable energy sector is a core market, with 73 megawatts of new wind power expected on the grid this year.
The German company said construction work started Monday for the 14 wind tower systems of an installation called Nowy Staw near the Polish city of Gdansk. Once completed by the end of the year, the wind farm will have an installed capacity of 73 MW.
"At the end of the year, one of the largest wind farms in Poland will produce green electricity at Nowy Staw for the equivalent of 94,000 Polish households," Chief Executive Officer Hans Bunting said in a statement.
Poland gets most of its electricity from coal, but needs to have 15 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2020 to meet European Union requirements. Poland last year published a new subsidy mechanism meant to advance a low-carbon economy.
RWE said utility companies operating in Poland have a certain degree of operational freedom under the new mechanism.
"We intend to grow our onshore capacities in Poland because we have now clarity on the political environment," Bunting said.
RWE operates six onshore wind farms in Poland with a total installed capacity of 197 MW.
