Changes to license fees and exemptions for Renewable Energy Sources: draft amendment to the Energy Law

The Governmental Legislation Centre has published a draft act amending the Energy Law (pl. ustawa -  Prawo energetyczne) (version dated September 9, 2026, currently at the consultation stage). The draft is intended to increase the pre-concession and concession fees payable on almost all energy-related licensed activities.

The key proposed changes are set out below:

Fee amounts

New coefficients used to calculate the fees

Under the draft, the coefficients used to calculate the pre-concession fee and concession fee will be increased tenfold compared with those currently applied under the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of October 12, 2021 on the concession fee (pl. Rozporządzenie w sprawie opłaty koncesyjnej; Dz. U., item 1938) and will be moved to new Article 34a of the Energy Law. The key rules for calculating and paying the fees, the form templates, and the powers of the President of ERO concerning verification of the accuracy of settlements, which are currently set out in the regulation, will also be moved to the Energy Law.

The draft amendment proposes, among other things, the following changes to the coefficients:

1. from 0.0005 to 0.005 – for heat (generation, transmission, distribution, and trading), electricity (all types of licensed activity, except generation in an offshore wind farm), and gaseous fuels (all types of licensed activity);
2. from 0.0003 to 0.003 – for liquid fuels (all types of licensed activity) and carbon dioxide transmission.

The coefficient for the activity of generating electricity in an offshore wind farm will remain PLN 23,000 for each MW of installed electrical capacity.

In addition, the amendment introduces a new coefficient of 0.003 for activities involving the trading and storage of hydrogen.

The draft proposes that the new coefficients apply to the calculation of the fee for 2026; it specifies that the new coefficients will be used to calculate pre-concession and concession fees in 2027.

The deadline for submitting the form relating to the concession fee and paying the fee remains unchanged—this must occur by April 15 of the year following the year in which the obligation to pay the fee arose. The same deadline is provided for the pre-concession fee.

Abolition of the upper cap on the pre-concession and concession fee

The current PLN 2.5 million cap on the pre-concession and concession fee is proposed to be abolished. The statement of reasons for the draft states that this solution will align the amount of fees paid with the revenues generated by the highest-earning businesses and thereby contribute to equal treatment and increased competitiveness among businesses.

According to ERO data for 2025, 23 concession holders holding a total of 27 concessions paid the maximum concession fee. The total amount of fees was PLN 67.5 million, while aggregate revenues amounted to PLN 453 billion.

Increase in the minimum pre-concession and concession fee

The draft also provides for an increase in the minimum pre-concession fee and minimum concession fee from PLN 1,000 up to PLN 5,000. In addition, unlike the current regulations, this amount will be adjusted annually:

• The adjustment will be based on the average annual overall consumer price index for the preceding calendar year, as announced by the President of Statistics Poland;
• The President of ERO will publish the adjusted minimum fee amount in the ERO Public Information Bulletin within 14 days after the index is announced;
• The adjustment will apply to both the pre-concession and the concession fee.

New rules for exemption from the concession fee for renewable energy sources (RES)

Aggregate Installed Capacity of Installations

The exemption from the pre-concession fee and concession fee will be available where the total installed capacity of RES installations does not exceed 5 MW. Under the current regulations, the exemption is available where each installation separately does not exceed 5 MW.

According to information from the President of ERO, approximately 230 businesses rely on the current legal framework and have at least one installation with a capacity not exceeding 5 MW, while the aggregate capacity covered by their concessions exceeds 5 MW.

Corporate Group

Under proposed Articles 33d(8a) and 34(7a), if an undertaking generating electricity in RES installations is part of a corporate group within the meaning of Article 4(14) of the Act of February 16, 2007 on Competition and Consumer Protection (pl. ustawa o ochronie konkurencji i konsumentów), the 5 MW exemption threshold will be assessed by taking into account the installations of all entities in that group, including all installations located in Poland and owned, possessed, used, or managed by entities belonging to the group will be aggregated. This solution is intended to enable concession fees to be collected based on the installed capacities of installations within the corporate group.

The Act is to enter into force 14 days after the date of its promulgation.

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