URE reminds Polish RES producers to correct August 2026 certificate-of-origin applications after 7-hour negative TGE prices on 23 August

On 4 September 2026 URE (Poland's energy regulator) published a notice reminding RES generators that because TGE day-ahead (RDN) prices were negative for 7 consecutive hours (10:00–17:00) on 23 August 2026, the statutory support-restriction mechanism in Art. 46(4) of the OZE Act is triggered again: energy produced during those hours does not qualify for a certificate of origin (świadectwo pochodzenia). Producers whose August 2026 generation period is covered must amend their certificate-of-origin applications submitted via grid operators to the President of URE, deducting the volume generated in the negative-price hours (using metering data where available, or assumed installed-capacity output otherwise).

This event operationalizes an existing negative-price clawback rule for RES guarantees-of-origin support, directly linking day-ahead price formation to subsidy/certificate eligibility. URE explicitly warns that rising RES capacity connected to the Polish grid (KSE) is making sub-zero TGE prices more frequent, meaning this support-restriction mechanism will recur more often, creating growing administrative burden for generators, increased processing times for the President of URE, and a tightening feedback loop between negative-price events and RES revenue support.

This is a live illustration of how negative wholesale prices interact with a fixed regulatory threshold (≥6 consecutive hours below zero on the RDN) embedded in Poland's Guarantees-of-Origin/certificate-of-origin support scheme. As RES penetration increases, negative-price hours are becoming structurally more common, which will progressively erode the value of the certificate-of-origin support mechanism for periods overlapping oversupply. From a market-design perspective, this raises questions about whether the current all-or-nothing exclusion (any hour within a ≥6-hour negative-price block loses eligibility) remains fit for purpose as negative-pricing frequency rises, and whether monitoring/administrative processes (manual application corrections, operator-mediated submissions) can scale. It also highlights the importance of transparent TGEBase RDN price publication as the reference index determining support eligibility, and the operational link between exchange price outcomes and regulatory/certificate processes.

Art. 46 ust. 4 of the Polish Act of 20 February 2015 on Renewable Energy Sources (ustawa o odnawialnych źródłach energii), Dz.U. z 2026 r. poz. 68, z późn. zm.

—

Primary sources