URE licences at a glance: thresholds, procedure and the licence promise

The URE President’s licence determines whether a generation project or energy storage facility can legally operate and whether it can be sold without unresolved regulatory issues. This guide clarifies thresholds, the procedure, and the role of the licence promise, but it does not replace legal analysis of the project.

When is a licence required

The licence obligation arises from Article 32(1) of the Energy Law, while in practice the project status is determined by the exclusions in point 1 of this provision. For electricity, three apply:

• sources up to 50 MW not classified as RES or cogeneration (item b), i.e. an exclusion that does not cover wind and photovoltaic farms,
• micro-installation and small installation (lit. c), i.e. the threshold appropriate for RES projects,
• energy generated exclusively from agricultural biogas, including in cogeneration, and exclusively from biofuels (item d), where the fuel type, not the capacity, is decisive.

A wind farm and a photovoltaic farm above 1 MW therefore require a licence, even though they fall below the 50 MW threshold in point (b).

Micro-installation, small installation and register

The thresholds are defined by the Act on Renewable Energy Sources. A micro-installation has a total installed electrical capacity of no more than 50 kW (Article 2(19) of the RES Act), while a small installation has a capacity greater than 50 kW and no more than 1 MW, when connected to a grid with a voltage lower than 110 kV (Article 2(18)).

Electricity generation from RES in a small installation is a regulated activity and requires entry into the register of electricity producers in small installations, which is maintained by the President of URE (Article 7(1)(1) of the RES Act). The Act does not link the entry obligation to a microinstallation, and it explicitly excludes electricity generation from agricultural biogas (Article 7(2)).

Energy storage: two thresholds

Electricity energy storage requires a licence when the total installed electrical capacity of storage facilities exceeds 10 MW (Article 32(1)(2)(a) of the Energy Law). Below this threshold, no licence is required, but there is a public register of storage facilities maintained by the system operator, into which storage facilities with a capacity greater than 50 kW are entered (Article 43g).

What the URE President investigates

The grounds for granting a licence are set out in Article 33(1) of the Energy Law:

• registered office in an EU member state, Switzerland, an EFTA country within the European Economic Area, or Turkey,
• financial resources guaranteeing proper performance of the activity or documented ability to obtain them,
• technical capabilities and employing persons with appropriate qualifications,
• zoning decision and no tax arrears to the state budget.

A separate register of absolute obstacles under Article 33(3) covers bankruptcy or liquidation, revocation of a licence within the last 3 years, and a final conviction for a crime related to business activity. The condition of non-criminality also applies to persons representing the company and members of supervisory boards. The guarantee of proper business conduct is an optional basis, so the President of URE can only use it when refusing an application (Article 33(3d)).

Application and procedure time

The applicant already conducting business activity attaches financial statements for the last 3 years, describes the subject and scope of activity, available resources and the period for which the licence is to be granted (Article 35(1) of the Energy Law). An incomplete application ends with a summons to complete it within a period not shorter than 21 days, and failure to complete it means leaving the matter without a decision.

The statutory deadline is set out in Article 35(3) of the Code of Administrative Procedure: one month for cases requiring explanatory proceedings, two months for particularly complex ones. Delays attributable to the party or to circumstances beyond the authority’s control are not taken into account (§ 5), so the actual duration depends on the completeness of the application, not the calendar. Licences are granted for a fixed term of 10 to 50 years (Article 36), and an appeal against the decision may be lodged with the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection within 14 days of service (Article 30(2)).

Activity before obtaining a licence

From 30 April 2026, Articles 33a to 33d of the Energy Law apply, added by the Act of 13 March 2026 amending the Energy Law and certain other acts (Journal of Laws 2026, item 516). An entrepreneur required to obtain a licence for electricity generation or storage may, from the first day of injecting energy into the grid, even without a licence, participate in the balancing market, generate and sell energy, excluding sales to end consumers, store energy, and provide system services. This period lasts for up to 12 months or until the licence is obtained, and a notification submitted 30 days before its expiry extends it by up to 6 months.

The terms are tough:

• connection agreement concluded before the start of business,
• information to the President of URE on the date of first energy generation, within 30 days of its first connection to the grid,
• sale only to licensed entities or those entered in the appropriate register of regulated activities,
• pre-licence fee from 1,000 PLN to 2,500,000 PLN per year, for RES installations with a capacity up to 5 MW.

The breach blocks the issuance of a licence for one year (Article 33c(3)). Revenue is also affected because energy generated during this period does not benefit from support systems or auctions and does not receive guarantees of origin (Article 69c and Article 120(11) of the RES Act).

Licence promise in the transaction

The licence promise is issued by the President of URE by means of an administrative decision to any person intending to commence licensed activity or to change its scope. The promise sets a validity period which must not be shorter than 6 months (Article 43(3) of the Energy Law). The Act therefore sets a lower limit, not an upper one, so the validity period is read from the decision itself.

The value of the licence promise derives from Article 43(4): while it is valid, a licence for the activity specified in it cannot be refused, unless the factual or legal circumstances stated in the application for its issuance have changed. A change in the project therefore weakens its effect, so when conducting due diligence, the capacity and scope are compared with the licence promise and current documentation. The list of entities with a licence promise is published by the President of URE in the URE Public Information Bulletin.

What are the consequences of lacking a licence?

Conducting business activities in the field of generation, storage, transmission, distribution or trading of fuels or energy without the required licence is an offence. The perpetrator is subject to a fine of up to 5,000,000 PLN or to imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years (Article 57g(1) of the Energy Law), and the same applies to anyone who handles the financial affairs of another entity. The provision does not apply to activities carried out legally during the pre-licence period (Article 57g(5)).

The URE President also imposes monetary penalties. For failure to comply with obligations arising from a licence, the penalty cannot be lower than 2,000 PLN and higher than 15% of the penalised entrepreneur’s revenue from the previous tax year, and when it relates to licensed activities, the upper limit is 15% of the revenue from those activities (Article 56(3)(2)). A penalty of up to 300% of the monthly remuneration can also be imposed on the manager of an energy enterprise.

How to check a company’s licence

Public registers provide the starting point. A company profile in the URE licence search and MIOZE register shows entries from the URE President’s registers along with the data status date, and the compilation of generation units and the capacity market links the unit with a reference to the licence and MIOZE entries.

This is a readout of registers as of the specified date, not confirmation that the licence decision is in force on the date of reading. The register does not show proceedings to amend or revoke a licence, nor the conditions set out in the decision, so the document itself is consulted in a transaction. The order of investigation is described in the legal due diligence guide for RES projects.

HWW materials for further reading

HWW Law Firm publishes materials on electricity generation licences, on licensing of energy storage facilities, on administrative penalties by URE and on appeals to the Regional Administrative Court. Before applying, check the current wording of the regulations.

Key points

• for RES projects the licensing threshold is a small installation up to 1 MW, and energy storage requires a licence above 10 MW,
• the deregulation act of 11 June 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026 item 900) did not raise the licence thresholds for RES,
• from 30 April 2026, it is permitted to operate without a licence for 12 months, with an extension of up to 6 months,
• energy from the pre-licensing period does not benefit from support, auctions, or guarantees of origin,
• The licence promise is valid for no less than 6 months and protects only as long as the factual and legal situation has not changed,
• carrying out activities without the required licence is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to 5,000,000 PLN,
• public registers show the status as of the specified date and do not replace the licence document.