EC approves aid for 5.4 GWh storage rollout in Poland

The European Commission has approved a €1.2 billion Polish scheme to support investment into electricity storage facilities to help reduce the reliance of the Polish electricity system on fossil fuels and to facilitate the smooth integration of variable-generation renewable energy into the national electricity system.

In an announcement released on October 3, 2024, the executive arm of the European Union said that the Polish scheme will support the installation of at least 5.4 GWh of new electricity storage facilities.

The policy will support only newly installed storage facilities with a capacity of at least 4 MWh. Eligible projects will be connected to Poland’s electricity distribution or transmission networks at all voltage levels. Projects will be selected via a call for proposals held by the Polish government. 

Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of direct grants and loans. The total amount of grant and loans combined shall not exceed 45% of the investment cost of supported projects but that figure may be increased to 55% for medium-sized companies and 65% for small companies, the commission said.

The aid will be granted before December 31, 2025.

The commission concluded the Polish scheme is “necessary, appropriate, and proportionate to accelerate the green transition and facilitate the development of certain economic activities which are of importance for the implementation of the REPowerEU plan [to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuel after the invasion of Ukraine] and the Green Deal industrial plan.”

The Polish scheme was approved under the European Union’s state aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, which was adopted by the European Commission in 2023.

The scheme will be financed partly by the European Union’s Modernisation Fund – which aims to modernize energy systems and improve energy efficiency – and partly by the bloc’s post-Covid Recovery and Resilience Facility, following the commission’s positive assessment of Poland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and its adoption by the EU Council.