PRAGUE  Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:34am GMT

German utility RWE has invested in a new onshore wind farm in Poland and expects to connect this renewable project to the country's electricity grid by the end of 2015, the company said on Monday.

The 17 megawatt wind farm in Opalenica is RWE's seventh wind power project in Poland and will bring the company's total installed capacity of wind farms to 214 megawatts.

Poland generates around 90 percent of its electricity from coal and must increase renewable energy to at least 15 percent of the total by 2020 to meet European Union rules on carbon emissions.

But change has proved difficult because renewable power producers have complained that an uncertain legal environment prevented them from making new investments.

Last April, Poland approved a long-awaited draft law that laid out new long-term subsidies for renewable energy, aiming to cut costs for consumers as well as help the coal-reliant country meet EU climate targets.

"After a period of insecurity regarding the final legal regulations, work on the new (renewables) law are currently being finalised," Robert Macias, board member of RWE Renewables Polska, said in a statement.

"We have decided that it is the right time to carry out another investment.” RWE did not disclose the size of the investment.

RWE also said it was open to further investments in wind energy in Poland but that it was too soon to talk about any specific plans.