Written by Natalia Sarna, Barrister (adwokat), Counsel
Reviewed by Wojciech Kasprzak, Attorney (radca prawny), Senior Counsel, Head of Real Estate and German Desk
First published: 30 October 2026
Last updated: 30 October 2026
In short
How to secure land for a renewable energy project in Poland
As of October 2026, most solar and wind projects in Poland do not buy their land: they lease it for up to 30 years. Agricultural land of 1 ha or more can, as a rule, be bought only by an individual farmer or with the consent of the National Support Centre for Agriculture (KOWR), and a lease avoids that restriction.
A lease protects the project only if it survives a sale of the land, the enforcement of an earlier mortgage and the landowner’s death, and if it lets the investor build on the land, own the installation and remove it. Before signing, the investor checks the title, the land class and planning status, KOWR rights and the landowner’s own restrictions: a buyer of agricultural land may not lease it out for five years without KOWR consent.
Below: buy or lease, the agricultural land rules, the clauses a renewable lease needs, how to protect it, preliminary agreements, easements, exclusion from agricultural production and a land due diligence checklist. The whole investment path is in our guide to renewable energy in Poland.
30 years
after which a land lease is treated as concluded for an indefinite period
1 ha
from this area, agricultural land is bought only by a farmer or with KOWR consent
40+ MW
total capacity of solar and battery storage projects reviewed in our legal due diligence since 2024
6 countries
home countries of the renewable energy investors and suppliers we have advised on Polish projects since 2024
LAND FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY IN POLAND – THE TERMS USED ON THIS PAGE
Land and mortgage register (KW) (księga wieczysta) – the court register of title, rights and encumbrances, kept online; its four sections show the property, the owner, rights and claims, and mortgages.
Land and building register (ewidencja gruntów i budynków) – the cadastre kept by the county; it shows plot boundaries, area, land use and soil class.
Lease (dzierżawa) – the Civil Code contract giving the use of land and the right to take its benefits for rent; the standard basis for solar and wind farms.
Certain date (data pewna) – a date that cannot be disputed, for example one confirmed by a notary; it protects a lease against a buyer of the land.
KOWR (Krajowy Ośrodek Wsparcia Rolnictwa) – the National Support Centre for Agriculture; it consents to purchases of agricultural land, holds pre-emption rights and manages State-owned farmland.
Individual farmer (rolnik indywidualny) – the person who, as a rule, may buy agricultural land without KOWR consent; a project company is not one.
Exclusion from agricultural production (wyłączenie gruntów z produkcji rolnej) – the county head’s decision allowing protected agricultural land to be used for other purposes, with a one-off fee and annual fees.
Preliminary agreement (umowa przedwstępna) – an agreement to conclude the final sale or lease later, usually once permits and consents are in place.
Buy or lease land for a renewable energy project in Poland
A lease is the default for solar and wind farms on farmland; buying makes sense mainly for land that is not agricultural property, for substations and for storage on industrial sites. The table compares the routes an investor can use, alone or together.
| Route | When it fits | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Lease from a private owner | Solar and wind farms on farmland; most projects | Up to 30 years, then indefinite; must allow construction, keep the installation the investor’s and survive a sale of the land. |
| Lease of State-owned farmland | Poor land managed by KOWR | Since 5 October 2023 KOWR may lease land for renewable energy without first offering it to family farms if at least 70% is wasteland or class VI land and it lies outside nature protection areas. |
| Purchase of the land | Land zoned for non-agricultural use, plots under 1 ha, substations, storage on industrial land | KOWR consent and pre-emption for agricultural land; an MSWiA permit for buyers from outside the EEA and Switzerland. |
| Purchase of the project company | Acquiring a project with land already secured | KOWR pre-emption of shares where the company owns at least 5 ha of agricultural land, since 2023 also in its parent company; the land position is only as good as the leases behind it. |
| Easement or access agreement | Cable route, access road, rotor envelope over neighbouring plots | Notarial deed and an entry in the land register make it bind later owners; an agreement alone binds only the person who signed it. |
Proper siting of the installation is a prerequisite for getting through the administrative procedures effectively.
Buying a whole project company is covered in our guide to the share purchase of a Polish company.
Agricultural land rules that affect renewable energy projects
Most solar and onshore wind sites are farmland, so the Agricultural System Act (UKUR) applies to them. Under the Act, agricultural property can as a rule be acquired only by an individual farmer; the exceptions decide whether a project company can buy, and the restrictions on the landowner decide whether it can lease.
- Plots under 1 ha. No KOWR consent is needed; where the agricultural land in the property is under 0.3 ha, the Act does not apply at all (since 5 October 2023).
- Land zoned for other uses. Land designated in a local zoning plan for non-agricultural purposes is not agricultural property under the Act, so the restrictions on buyers do not apply.
- Offshore wind. Land bought for an offshore wind farm and its power evacuation needs no KOWR consent.
- Other purchases. Need the consent of the Director General of KOWR, given by administrative decision; KOWR also has a pre-emption right on a sale and a right of acquisition in other transfers. A purchase in breach of these rules may be invalid.
- Shares in a land-owning company. KOWR may buy shares being sold in a company that owns at least 5 ha of agricultural land; since 5 October 2023 this extends to shares in its parent company.
- A tenant farmer already on the land. When leased agricultural land is sold, the existing tenant may have a statutory pre-emption right, so a farmer’s lease affects both a purchase and a new lease.
The five-year rule for landowners who bought recently
A buyer of agricultural land must run the farm that includes it for at least five years and, in that time, may not sell it or give it into anyone’s possession – which includes leasing it to a project company – without the consent of the Director General of KOWR. Since 5 October 2023 the consent is valid for one year from the day it becomes final, and the rule also applies if the land has lost its agricultural character after the purchase. It does not apply, among other cases, where a local zoning plan adopted after the purchase designates the land for non-agricultural use. Check when and how the landowner acquired each plot before negotiating the lease.
In practice: a lease signed in breach of the five-year rule is a risk to the whole site, and a KOWR consent obtained too early may lapse before construction. Time the consent to the lease, not to the first meeting with the landowner.
Foreign investors buying land
Under the Act of 24 March 1920 on the acquisition of real estate by foreigners, a buyer from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland needs a permit from the Minister of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) to buy land in Poland, and to take control of a Polish company that owns land. Investors from the EEA and Switzerland need no permit, and a lease needs none for anyone. Large acquisitions may also be subject to foreign investment control in Poland. The general rules are explained in our guides to buying agricultural land in Poland and the property purchase permit for foreigners.
What a land lease for a solar or wind farm in Poland must contain
A standard farm lease does not fit a renewable project. Beyond the rent and the term, the agreement has to carry the project through permitting, financing and a sale. These are the clauses lenders and buyers check first.
- Term. A lease for more than 30 years is treated, after 30 years, as concluded for an indefinite period and can then be terminated on notice. Most projects agree a fixed term within 30 years and an option to extend, sized to the operating life and repowering.
- Phases and rent. A lower fee during development, then rent from the start of construction or commercial operation, per hectare or per MW, with indexation.
- Right to use the land for construction. The building permit application includes the investor’s statement of its right to use the land for construction purposes, so the lease must grant that right expressly – for the installation, roads, cables and the substation.
- Ownership of the installation. Under the Civil Code structures generally follow the land, so the lease must state that the installation belongs to the investor and regulate its modernisation and removal (see the land lease section of our renewable energy guide).
- Landowner’s cooperation. Consents and powers of attorney for the environmental decision, zoning requests, grid connection, exclusion from agricultural production and plot divisions; no new leases or encumbrances without the investor’s consent.
- Transfer and financing. The right to transfer the lease to a project company or a buyer, to use it as security for lenders and to let a lender step in.
- Termination. Limited landowner termination rights, with notice and time to cure; an investor’s right to exit if permits or the grid connection fail.
- Costs and the end of the project. Who pays the fees for exclusion from agricultural production, property tax on the installation and crop damage; decommissioning, restoration of the land and any security for it.
- Form. In writing with signatures certified by a notary: this gives the lease a certain date and allows it to be entered in the land register.
Ownership gives an investor the fullest protection, but in Polish renewable projects a well-drafted lease is a sufficient basis – provided it gives a long-term right to build and operate the installation and fits the project.
Commercial leases of buildings follow different rules; see our guide to property leases in Poland.
Protecting a renewable energy lease against a sale, a mortgage and the landowner’s death
A project runs for decades, and the landowner may sell the land, default on a loan or die in that time. Four checks decide whether the lease survives.
Sale of the land
The buyer steps into the lease but may terminate it on statutory notice, unless the lease was made for a fixed term, in writing with a certain date, and the land had been handed over to the investor.
Land register entry
The lessee’s rights can be entered in section III of the land and mortgage register, which makes them effective against later owners. The entry needs a lease with notarially certified signatures.
Earlier mortgage
A mortgage entered before the lease ranks ahead of it, and in enforcement the lease may not hold. Obtain the bank’s consent or arrange repayment before the investment starts.
Owners and heirs
The lease passes to the landowner’s heirs. Before signing, all co-owners must agree to a long-term lease, land in spouses’ joint property needs both spouses, and a deceased owner still in the register means the succession must be settled first.
In practice: on rural land the register often still shows a deceased owner or many co-heirs. Settling the succession can take months, so it belongs at the start of the land due diligence, not just before the building permit.
How to read the register is explained in our guide to the land and mortgage register in Poland.
Securing land before the permits: preliminary agreements and conditions
The investor needs land rights to apply for the environmental decision and connection conditions, but does not yet know whether the project will be built. Two tools and well-set deadlines bridge that gap.
- A preliminary sale agreement in notarial form. It entitles the buyer to sue for the final agreement if the seller refuses, and the buyer’s claim can be entered in the land register. Typical conditions: the environmental decision, the zoning basis, grid connection, KOWR consent where needed and exclusion from agricultural production.
- A lease that starts in a development phase. Signed from the outset, with a lower fee until construction and the investor’s right to exit if the project fails; for most solar and wind farms this replaces an option to buy.
- Deadlines that match the permits. Long-stop dates in the land agreements should follow the connection agreement milestones and the 12-month validity of connection conditions issued from 30 April 2026, explained in the grid connection section of our renewable energy guide.
Easements and access for cable routes, roads and rotor envelopes
The project site is rarely the only land a project needs. The cable to the connection point, the access road for oversized transport and, for wind farms, the space over neighbouring plots swept by the blades all cross land the investor does not lease.
- Cable route. A transmission easement on private plots, decisions of the road authority on public roads and agreements on internal roads; the instruments are compared in the cable route section of our renewable energy guide.
- Access to a public road. Without legal access the site cannot be built on. Where the route crosses third-party land, secure it by an easement entered in the land register, not a letter of consent.
- Rotor envelope. Where blades sweep over a neighbouring plot, an agreement with its owner, ideally backed by an entry in the land register, prevents disputes over the use of airspace.
- Compensation and form. Easements are usually granted for one-off or periodic payment, by notarial deed; record exactly where the line or road runs on a map attached to the deed.
Excluding land from agricultural production for a renewable energy project
Building a solar farm or a turbine foundation on protected farmland means taking the land out of agricultural production. Under the Act on the Protection of Agricultural and Forest Land, the decision is issued by the county head (starosta) and must be obtained before the building permit.
| Land | Exclusion decision | What it means for the project |
|---|---|---|
| Class I–III agricultural land, mineral or organic soils | Required | One-off fee and annual fees; for PV farms a local zoning plan is also mandatory on these classes. |
| Class IV–VI land, organic soils | Required | A soil survey shows the origin of the soil; organic soils such as peat are protected regardless of class. |
| Class IV–VI land, mineral soils | Not required | No exclusion fees; the zoning rules for PV on class IV land still apply. |
The one-off fee depends on the land class and soil type. After a permanent exclusion an annual fee of 10% of it is payable for 10 years, and the obligation arises when the land is actually taken out of production. The fees are owed by the holder of the decision, so the lease should say who applies for it and who pays. Forest land requires a separate decision.
Land due diligence checklist for renewable energy projects
Seventeen checks in five groups, to run on every plot of the site and the cable route before the lease or the preliminary agreement is signed. They can be ticked off as you go; the PDF version also lists the evidence to keep for each check.
TITLE AND REGISTERS
PLANNING AND LAND STATUS
THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS
ACCESS AND ROUTE
SIGNING
What most often goes wrong with land for renewable energy projects
These are the land issues that most often delay a project in Poland or reduce its value in a sale.
Missing signatures
The lease is signed by one spouse or by some of the co-owners, and the others later challenge it.
Lease lost on a sale
Without a certain date or a register entry, a new owner terminates the lease on statutory notice.
Earlier mortgage enforced
The landowner’s bank enforces a mortgage that ranks ahead of the lease.
The five-year rule
The landowner bought the land recently and leased it without KOWR consent.
Deadlines out of step
The landowner may terminate if no building permit is issued by a date the permitting schedule cannot meet.
Costs nobody allocated
Exclusion fees, property tax and restoration at the end of the project are not dealt with in the lease.
A land matter from our files
One matter that shows where the land position of a renewable project carries risk. Client details are generalised.
CASE · LAND REVIEW FOR A SOLAR ACQUISITION · 2024
Testing the land rights behind a ready-to-build solar farm of about 20 MW
In 2024 Dudkowiak & Putyra reviewed, for a foreign investor, the land position of a ready-to-build PV project of about 20 MW in western Poland before the investor committed to full due diligence. The project company held about 36 ha under a lease running until 2052. Our report showed that the landowner could terminate the lease if no building permit was issued by a set date, that the investor’s right of first refusal had not been entered in the land register, and that the grid connection depended on the operator securing land for the cable route.
What it shows. A long lease is not enough on its own: termination triggers tied to permitting deadlines, rights left out of the land register and third-party land on the cable route decide whether the land position holds until construction.
How we help
Dudkowiak & Putyra’s real estate practice checks and secures land for renewable energy projects in Poland: land due diligence of the site and the cable route, leases and preliminary agreements, easements, KOWR and MSWiA consents and exclusion from agricultural production. Since 2024 our lawyers have reviewed over 40 MW of solar and battery storage projects in legal due diligence and advised renewable energy investors and suppliers from Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. See our legal due diligence of land for renewable energy projects.
Who you work with
Barrister (adwokat), Counsel
Author of this guide
Counsel in the real estate practice. For foreign investors she checks title, mortgages and land registers, works through the agricultural land rules and drafts leases for renewable energy sites, including green-lease clauses.
Attorney (radca prawny), Senior Counsel, Head of Real Estate and German Desk
Reviewer of this guide
Leads the real estate practice of Dudkowiak & Putyra. A transactional lawyer who came to real estate from M&A, after Grant Thornton, Deloitte and Baker Tilly, he looks at land as investors and lenders do: asset or share deal, purchase of a project company, financing and the leases behind it. Law graduate of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; member of the Poznań Chamber of Attorneys-at-Law; works in English, German and Spanish.
Sources and methodology
Legal basis. Act of 23 April 1964 – Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny), in particular the provisions on component parts of land, co-ownership, easements, preliminary agreements and lease (dzierżawa); Act of 25 February 1964 – Family and Guardianship Code (Kodeks rodzinny i opiekuńczy); Act of 6 July 1982 on Land and Mortgage Registers and Mortgage (ustawa o księgach wieczystych i hipotece); Act of 11 April 2003 on Shaping the Agricultural System (ustawa o kształtowaniu ustroju rolnego), as amended by the Act of 13 July 2023 (in force from 5 October 2023); Act of 19 October 1991 on the Management of Agricultural Property of the State Treasury; Act of 24 March 1920 on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners (ustawa o nabywaniu nieruchomości przez cudzoziemców); Act of 3 February 1995 on the Protection of Agricultural and Forest Land (ustawa o ochronie gruntów rolnych i leśnych); Act of 7 July 1994 – Construction Law (Prawo budowlane). Texts: ISAP. Official information: KOWR – when consent is not required, ekw.ms.gov.pl (land and mortgage registers), geoportal.gov.pl (plots and planning status).
Our figures. Dudkowiak & Putyra’s matter records, 2024 to October 2026: legal due diligence of battery storage projects of about 25 MW / 50 MWh and of a 19.8 MW solar project; renewable energy clients from Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Rounded down.
State of the law: October 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice; the land position of a specific project depends on the plots, their owners and the planning status of the municipality.
Corrections: none since publication.
FAQ – land for renewable energy projects in Poland
Can a foreign company buy agricultural land in Poland for a solar farm?
As a rule only an individual farmer may buy agricultural land of 1 ha or more, so a project company needs the consent of the Director General of KOWR, unless the land is zoned in a local plan for non-agricultural use; a buyer from outside the EEA and Switzerland also needs an MSWiA permit.
Do I need KOWR consent to lease farmland for a solar or wind farm?
Not for the lease as such, but if the landowner bought the agricultural land less than five years ago, the landowner may not lease it out without the consent of the Director General of KOWR, which is valid for one year.
How long can a land lease for a renewable energy project last?
A lease concluded for more than 30 years is treated, after 30 years, as concluded for an indefinite period and can then be terminated on notice, so projects usually agree up to 30 years with an option to extend.
What happens to the lease if the landowner sells the land?
The buyer steps into the lease, but may terminate it on statutory notice unless the lease was made for a fixed term, in writing with a certain date, and the land had been handed over; an entry in the land register gives further protection.
Who must sign a lease of co-owned or family land?
All co-owners for a long-term lease, both spouses where the land is in their joint property and, where the registered owner has died, the heirs once the succession is confirmed.
Who pays for excluding land from agricultural production?
The holder of the exclusion decision pays a one-off fee and, after a permanent exclusion, an annual fee of 10% of it for 10 years; the lease should say who applies for the decision and who bears the cost.
