The Warsaw office of Chadbourne & Parke recently won a precedent-setting case before the Polish Supreme Court on behalf of Park Wiatrowy Tychowo Sp. z.o.o. against the distribution system operator ENEA Operator Sp. z .o.o.

The Supreme Court ruled on April 12 that Park Wiatrowy Tychowo is not obligated under the Energy Law to cover ENEA Operator’s costs for necessary grid extension and upgrades relating to a 35 MW wind farm project being developed by Park Wiatrowy Tychowois in northwest Poland. The Court’s ruling stated that the wind farm owners should only reimburse the costs of technical facilities linking the wind farm site to the existing electricity grid.

The judgment ends the long-lasting case which started when Park Wiatrowy Tychowo, a company controlled by RWE AG renewable energy division RWE Innogy GmbH, filed a complaint with the Energy Regulatory Authority, Prezes Urzędu Regulacji Energetyki, regarding high interconnection costs proposed by the operator. The regulatory body issued a decision defining terms and conditions of the interconnection agreement and confirming that charging the wind farm developer with grid extension and upgrade costs was unlawful. The operator appealed the decision but all courts reviewing the case, including finally the Supreme Court, concurred with the regulatory decision and ruled in favor of Chadbourne’s client.

“This critical judgment was widely awaited by the entire wind power community in Poland,” said Chadbourne partner and lead attorney in the case Igor Muszyński. “We believe that it will speed up the resolution process of several similar interconnection disputes currently pending in the Polish courts.”

Also representing the client was European counsel in the Warsaw office Karol Lasocki.