Establishment of Energy Efficiency Experts Platform
Intertwined with the issue of high energy intensity of the economy, Poland faces the problem of bad air quality with huge environmental, social and economic consequences. Over 30 of the 50 most polluted European cities from the World Health Organization list8 are located in Poland. The particulate emissions at heights up to 40 meters are connected with, among others, the household and municipal sector, in which inefficient boilers are used to a large extent to burn solid fuels. It results in increasing air pollution and exceedances of PM10 emissions. According to a World Bank’s report9 prepared within the EU Catching-up Regions Initiative in June 2018, investment needs for thermo-modernisation and exchange of boilers in single family buildings are around EUR 30.7 billion for non-poor households and about EUR 5.5 billion for poor households over 10 years.
The Polish government is addressing the problem of bad air quality in cities and regions by implementing a special programme entitled “Clean air” (adopted by the Council of Ministers on the 25th of April 2017) and by utilising funds from many different sources (national, regional, etc.). On a national level, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEP&WM) plays a major role in financing a wide range of air quality measures. Announced as a ten-year PLN 103 billion programme, the PPCA is designed to support single-families to thermally retrofit their houses, use renewable energy sources, and replace heat sources that are inefficient or are not compliant with anti-smog resolutions (in regions of Poland which have passed such resolutions). Over the next ten years – until 2029 – the programme is estimate to facilitate thermo-modernisation in about 3.5 million single-family buildings.
The general objective of the project implemented by CASE and its partners is to support the efforts of the Polish national authorities to define and implement appropriate processes and methodologies by taking into account good practices of and lessons learned by other countries in addressing similar situations
In order to facilitate the application procedure for potential beneficiaries, the NFEP&WM was seeking a support to put in place an energy efficiency expert platform. The energy efficiency expert platform will consist of an online register of certified energy efficiency experts. The registered experts will be assigned categories following their expertise, location, etc. This will enable property owners and potential beneficiaries of financial programmes to easily find and contact one of the competent and trustworthy experts. The platform will also provide information on available financial programmes. The energy efficiency experts will assist in planning the renovation, taking into account the requirements of the financial programme, and will help in filling-in the application form. CASE’s main task is to prepare the baseline report showing the best practices in several European countries. It will be a reference point for the creation of the platform managed by the NFEP&WM.
Donor: DG Reform
Partners: ICF, SPARKS
Experts: dr Szymon Firląg, Karolina Zubel, Andrzej Cylwik, Tomasz Kraszewski