We are pleased to welcome Artur Foksa to the Hive team!
About Artur and his role at Hive
Artur joined us on the 17th of October as Country Manager for Poland. He will be responsible for the development of our pipeline in Poland – including establishing Greenfield RES projects focusing on PV farms, as well as identifying more advanced projects for Hive to purchase.
Before joining Hive, Artur had been developing his own portfolio of PV farms. He was able to reach RTB status for almost all his personal projects within two years. As well as his experience in renewables, Artur was running an M&A boutique and developing proprietary acquisitions for private clients and family offices. Artur has also acted as a C-level executive with the Polish transmission system operator, and he was on the Board of Advisors for the Polish National Energy Conservation Agency (KAPE).
We now have 14 Country Managers at Hive. All our CMs are responsible for creating and implementing renewable energy strategies for their countries. This includes evaluating the markets, scouting potential clean energy projects (we are currently working on a range of solar, wind, green hydrogen, and green ammonia technologies) and seeing their pipeline projects through from start to ready to build status – in some cases the projects are also constructed by the Hive Group before selling.
The Polish renewables market
Hive decided to enter the Polish renewables market due to its dynamic growth in recent years. Across the country there is a growing demand for green energy, a trend that can be seen elsewhere across the globe. Renewable energy consumption rose 15.5% in Poland in 2020, so the demand for clean energy in the country is evident. As well as the overall demand in the country, Poland is a suitable location for renewables due to the favourable wind and sun conditions.
The Government initiatives for the country bode well too. Local and EU banks are interested in financing new renewable energy development in the country. As well as strong bank interest, RES and the EIB have been investing billions of euros a year into Polish renewable energy projects.
Current energy mix in Poland
Coal is currently still the leading power sector in Poland, despite the recent growth of the clean energy division. The goals for the country, according to the draft Energy Policy of Poland, lays out plans for the use of fossil fuels to be limited to around 50% by 2050 – currently the usage is around 80%.
Since 2014 the country has been heavily adopting renewable energy. In 2021, Poland was one of the leading countries in PV installation. Following on from 2021’s success, it is expected that by the end of 2022 installed solar capacity will reach 12 GW in the country. Looking forward, installed solar capacity across Poland is expected to surpass 28 GW by 2030.
As well as the positive future for solar, there are big expectations for the wind and storage sectors to quickly expand in the coming decade. On top of solar and wind, there has been recent amends to the Energy Law containing proposals for the development of the hydrogen economy in Poland. The act introduced specific definitions in relation to the hydrogen market, specifically recognising hydrogen as a fuel within the energy law. As well as this recognition, there were other positive references in relation to the transmission and storage of hydrogen.
