The Polish government will use Recovery money to finance renewable energy communities and cooperatives. This is what a citizens-led, green Recovery should be about.
In a nutshell:
- Recovery money for energy communities in Poland
- A donation program and a supporting facility for citizens’ decision-making
Details:
There are almost no energy communities in Poland. Renewable energy sources have been installed for multi-family housing estates in no more than 50 cases, despite the fact that 50% of total Polish population lives in such type of housing.
Things might change soon: the Polish government has set up a new plan for energy communities, which will be financed via a donation program of €97 million coming from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. This EU cash might add at least 1.5GW of photovoltaic capacity in Poland, and it might help the creation of more than 5000 energy communities, thereby radically changing the community energy landscape in Poland.
The support for the development of energy communities will not be merely monetary. The Polish Recovery plan will also set up a facility to support communities in their decision-making process. This measure will contribute to overcome challenges of collective decision-making experienced in past support programs for renewable installations.
This is what Recovery plans should be about: investing money in the projects close to citizens and developing smart supporting measures to release the outstanding potential of the energy transition.
Sources:
Polish government, Polish draft Recovery and Resilience plan Polish project of RPP (2021)
