Poland’s transmission grid has no capacity left for new batteries. PSE’s statement of 30 September 2026 shows zero available capacity for new generation in all of its regions, for both 2026 and 2031. Distribution grids see additional capacity open sooner, mostly in the north and centre.

Until that capacity opens, a flexible connection agreement is the main way for a new battery to connect. Since 30 April 2026, grid operators can offer one where a firm connection needs grid reinforcement that is already in their development plans. The battery accepts limits on its import and export until that work is finished, for three years at most. Our companion article finds that halving grid access for those three years costs a battery starting in 2028 about 1 point of internal rate of return (IRR). The grid operators’ plans therefore show where flexible agreements are realistic, and how long their limits are likely to last.

This article maps planned reinforcement by region and completion year, using PSE’s transmission plans and the distribution operators’ capacity tables. We then tested which limits cost a battery most and found that the hours a limit covers matter far more than its direction. A limit timed to grid stress costs a 2028 battery less than 0.1 points of IRR, so the terms of a flexible offer are worth as much attention as its location.

Key takeaways

• New battery connections open first on distribution grids in the north and centre, from 2029. Developers looking for a flexible agreement have the best chance there, around Konin, Kalisz and Lubelskie. The south has no capacity for a 50 MW battery to 2031.
• PSE’s reinforcement dates keep slipping, so a flexible agreement’s limits are likely to run the full three years. Between its last two plans, PSE pushed 79% of its projects later. Developers should value a flexible offer as if the limits last the full term.
• When a limit applies matters more than whether it caps import or export. A limit timed to midday solar or evening peak demand costs a 2028 battery less than 0.1 points of IRR, because it falls in hours when the battery would not use that direction anyway. Developers should push for limits tied to the hours of grid stress rather than a flat cap.

Capacity for batteries opens first in the north and centre, in 2029 and 2030

Since 30 April 2026, the Energy Law has required distribution operators to publish how much connection capacity they have, with a five-year outlook. Energa-Operator, PGE Dystrybucja and Tauron Dystrybucja publish it separately for injection and withdrawal, for groups of 110 kV substations. A battery needs both, so the figure that matters is the lower of the two.

The new capacity sits in Energa-Operator's area across the north and centre, led by Wielkopolskie. The south stays closed to 2031.

Most of this capacity appears in 2029 and 2030, almost all of it in Energa-Operator’s area. Another 58 groups have room for a 50 MW battery in one direction but not the other, which makes them natural sites for a flexible agreement that limits a single direction.

Most transmission work for storage finishes in 2030 and 2031

PSE calculates its own available capacity in two steps. The first looks at the transmission grid alone and finds 300 MW for new generation in 2026, rising to 500 MW in 2031. The second subtracts the 110 kV connection conditions already agreed with distribution operators, which takes every area to zero. New withdrawal capacity appears at just 25 planned substations, and PSE has earmarked 14 of them for special economic zones.

PSE's 2027 to 2036 plan lists 272 transmission network projects. Of these, 103 state a connection purpose and 58 name energy storage, mostly as extensions of existing 220 kV and 400 kV substations.