Public support for energy efficiency in Poland – call for proposals for medium and large enterprises under the measure FENX.01.01

Who can receive public support for energy efficiency in Poland under FENX.01.01?

Entrepreneurs’ projects may include investments for, among others:

• energy modernization of company buildings (other than residential buildings),
• increasing the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes,
• increasing the energy efficiency of media circulation systems in plants (e.g. cold or hot water systems, compressed air systems or ventilation systems), transport routes,
• increasing the energy efficiency of auxiliary systems, including, for example, boiler rooms (boiler rooms using fuel other than renewable energy sources cannot be supported), heat recovery systems from industrial processes or lighting,
• installation of renewable energy devices with energy storage (additional element in the project),
• installation of equipment for the production, storage and transport of renewable hydrogen that complies with the scope of Art. 6 and 7 of Regulation 2021/1058 ERDF/CF (additional element in the project).

The scope of investment activities in relation to buildings, technical devices or installations and technological processes must result from the energy audit.

What is the amount of public support for energy efficiency in Poland under FENX.01.01?

The energy efficiency project is obligatorily financed in the form of an IF loan, and a loan from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, covering a total of 100% of eligible costs.

The exception are projects implemented in the “project finance” formula, for which it is obligatory to finance the project in the form of an IF loan and a loan from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, covering a total of 85% of eligible costs. For the remaining 15% of eligible costs, the entrepreneur’s own funds are required.

The basic financing conditions are summarized in the table below.

Additional requirements for public support for energy efficiency in Poland under FENX.01.01

In the case of improving the energy efficiency of buildings, the minimum threshold of required primary energy savings, taking into account the scope of the project, is 30% (except for monuments). This applies to projects/parts of projects containing a component in the form of energy modernization of buildings in enterprises.

In terms of increasing the energy efficiency of technological lines/processes, the minimum threshold for primary energy savings, taking into account the scope of the project, is 10%.

The above values ​​must result from the technical documentation (energy audit – ex ante), which should also result in recommended economic and technical solutions. Therefore, an ex-ante energy audit and an ex-post audit are mandatory.

The granting of public support for a given project will also be assessed, among others, in terms of:

• readiness to implement the project – documented land rights, possession of technical documentation, construction design, building permit and assured financing of own contribution;
• the value of expenditure planned to be incurred from public funds for unit primary energy savings;
• value of expenditure planned to be incurred from public funds to reduce 1 tonne of CO2.
• increasing energy efficiency understood as the degree of reduction in demand for final energy and the degree of reduction of demand for primary energy in relation to the scope of the project;
• including in the project tasks implementing the broader goals of the European Green Deal, including the Renovation Wave Strategy (e.g. circular economy, electromobility, energy storage, building digitization);
• including in the project activities related to the replacement/modernization of heat sources and the installation/replacement/modernization of heat recovery installations with the use of cooperating RES;
• project implementation in the ESCO/EPC formula.

Additional requirements and project evaluation criteria will be published in the competition documentation on the website maintained by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management at the time of announcing the recruitment.

How to apply for public support for energy efficiency in Poland under under FENX.01.01?

The call for applications will be conducted by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚIGW). The basic steps to apply for this funding for entrepreneurs may be as follows:

1. Analysis of the entrepreneur’s plans and investment needs for the coming years.
2. Verification whether the subject of the planned investment project qualifies for potential funding.
3. Preliminary verification of the fulfilment of project evaluation criteria and other requirements within the call for proposals.
4. Identify potential alternative and/or additional sources of support for the project and make initial recommendations in terms of securing other forms of public support.
5. Plan the optimal package of grants and tax credits as a source of funding and support for the investment.
6. Preparation of the application documentation including obtaining the required formal documents.
7. Monitoring of the status of the application at the various stages of its assessment and preparation of responses to supplementary documentation at the formal or substantive assessment stage.
8. Signing of the grant agreement and accounting for the grant awarded throughout the investment implementation period.

The action plan is a good introduction to preparing to benefit from this public funding. In practice, many questions or doubts arise and it is crucial to prepare the best possible application documentation, as the interest in obtaining public support is always greater than the available call budget. In such circumstances, doesn’t hesitate to contact me if you need a professional advice.