Polish ‘Energy Island’ test project mixes solar power and farming

Poland has launched a pilot project combining solar power generation with agriculture to test whether renewable energy can be produced alongside farming while easing pressure on the country’s electricity grid. 

The “Lubań Energy Island” project was inaugurated on Tuesday in Lubań, in northern Poland’s Pomorskie province, which the government is seeking to develop into a major energy hub. 

The first solar installation will cover about one hectare and cost several million to more than 10 million zlotys (€0.6 million-€2.3 million), with the final budget and capacity depending on external subsidies. 

Energy Minister Milosz Motyka said locally generated and stored electricity would help reduce grid congestion and, ultimately, power costs for consumers. 

“The more energy we can store locally, the fewer overloaded grids we will have, and the cheaper electricity will become,” Motyka told reporters. 

The project will use agrivoltaics, allowing crops or livestock farming to coexist with solar panels on the same land, alongside smart-grid technology and local energy storage. 

The site is intended as a test laboratory for technologies that could be replicated elsewhere in Poland. Regional officials said it would also provide farmers with hands-on training in using renewable energy without giving up agricultural production. 

Energa, one of Poland’s four largest power groups and controlled by state-run oil company Orlen, is investing in and developing the project. The installation is expected to be built within several months, with its final capacity dependent on the level of funding secured. 

Poland has been rapidly expanding renewable energy, particularly solar and wind, as it seeks to reduce its dependence on coal while modernizing an ageing electricity grid. 

Szymanek said he hoped legislation would soon be changed to make it easier to build agrivoltaic farms across the country.