Poland consults on a draft electricity-system regulation adding DSO flexibility services and broader balancing-market access
Poland’s Ministry of Energy has opened a public consultation on a draft regulation on the detailed conditions for the functioning of the national electricity system. The draft would replace the 2023 systemic regulation, which loses force on 7 September 2026, and introduces new rules on distribution system operators’ (DSOs’) flexibility services, balancing-market participation, aggregation and operator cooperation. Consultation runs for 30 days from 25 May 2026.Scope of the draft regulation
The draft is a systemic regulation issued by the Minister of Energy under the Energy Law. It replaces the Minister of Climate and Environment’s regulation of 22 March 2023, which loses force on 7 September 2026 once the transitional period under the 2023 Energy Law amendment ends. The principal new area is flexibility services. The draft also revises balancing-market participation and settlement, connection procedures, standardised market products, and cooperation between the transmission and distribution operators.
Flexibility services procured by DSOs
The draft makes DSOs responsible for procuring, activating, and settling flexibility services, and it excludes resources connected to the 110 kV network from that scope. Aggregators, active consumers, generators, and storage owners can provide these services once they meet the requirements set in the regulation and the distribution network code, complete qualification, are entered on the DSO’s list of flexibility service providers, and conclude a flexibility service agreement.
To keep procurement comparable across operators, the draft defines standardised market products for flexibility, which a DSO would procure, activate, and settle on defined terms, with the products differentiated by their role in supporting the network and by the urgency of activation.
Wider access to the balancing market
The draft broadens participation in the balancing market beyond centrally dispatched generating units. It introduces a definition of a regulatory resource and allows demand response, non-centrally-dispatched generation, electricity storage, and renewable sources to take part through active scheduling units. Where a resource could serve both DSO flexibility and system balancing, the draft sets coordination and priority-of-use rules between the DSOs and the transmission system operator, PSE.
Higher aggregation cap for scheduling units
The draft raises the maximum combined achievable capacity of a single scheduling unit from 50 MW to 500 MW, which lets aggregators assemble larger portfolios of distributed resources. The current 50 MW limit corresponds to the threshold for treating a unit as centrally coordinated, so lifting it changes how large an aggregated portfolio can be before that threshold applies. The draft also defines connection categories based on voltage level and connection capacity.
Balancing settlement and imbalance pricing
The draft revises how the balancing market is settled, so that unplanned deviations from a participant’s contracted position carry a cost. According to the ministry’s justification, the aim is to give market participants a reason to align generation and consumption with their contracted positions and to reduce system imbalance, which the ministry notes has stayed high after the earlier reform. These are stated objectives of the draft rather than confirmed outcomes.
Timeline and background
Consultation on the draft runs for 30 days from 25 May 2026, when the Ministry of Energy sent it for inter-ministerial agreement, public consultation, and opinion. The draft was prepared in the context of the second stage of Poland’s balancing-market reform, implemented on 14 June 2024, and the scheduled lapse of the 2023 systemic regulation on 7 September 2026.
FAQ
What has Poland put out for consultation?
A draft regulation of the Minister of Energy on the detailed conditions for the functioning of the electricity system, which would replace the 2023 systemic regulation that lapses on 7 September 2026.
Who can provide flexibility services to DSOs under the draft?
Aggregators, active consumers, generators, and storage owners, once they meet the regulation’s requirements and the distribution network code, complete qualification, are listed as flexibility service providers, and conclude an agreement with the DSO. Resources connected to the 110 kV network are excluded.
What does the draft change for the balancing market?
It broadens participation beyond centrally dispatched units, introduces a regulatory-resource definition, raises the aggregation cap for a single scheduling unit to 500 MW, and revises settlement so that unplanned deviations from contracted positions carry a cost.
How long is the consultation open?
The official notice states a 30-day period running from 25 May 2026. The exact closing date should be confirmed on the RCL project page.
Where can the draft be found?
The draft, its justification, and consultation documents are published in the Government Legislation Centre (RCL) register under project number 12410651.
Source
Ministry of Energy, draft regulation on the detailed conditions for the functioning of the electricity system, project No. 12410651, published in the Government Legislation Centre (Rządowe Centrum Legislacji) register at legislacja.rcl.gov.pl.
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