The conference "Capacity market - solution for the future?", which was organized by the Centre for International Relations in cooperation with the Warsaw office of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung was an invitation to discuss to what extent this mechanism is needed in Poland, and what the status of discussions on this topic is in other countries.

Representatives of Germany and France shared information on the progress of their work. Both countries are in favor of a decentralized market model, where the stock exchange and new financial instruments are used. In contrast, Polish representatives tended rather towards a centralized model, where a network system operator plays the main role.

The topic of large restraint from the European Commission towards introducing the capacity market, as it sees it as a form of state aid.

A recurring question - in line with the title of the conference - was to what extent are capacity markets needed, and to what extent other energy policy instruments can be used before we reach for this solution.

The speakers agreed that the capacity handling mechanisms should take into account the generating units as well as demand-side resources (DSR).

Presentations from the conference: