The Minister of Climate and Environment, as the Operator of the “Environment, Energy and Climate Change” Programme announces a call for proposals for application submitted under the “Construction of an installation for the production of fuel from wood and agro biomass in the form of pellets” call, financed from the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 in an amount of EUR 2,534, 584, i.e. PLN 11 315 143,35 [1]

 

The call is open only to applicants admitted to the 2nd stage of the competition that are invited to submit a grant application after the 1st stage.

 

1.           Aim of the call for proposals

The main objective of the call for proposals, intended to co-finance projects in the programme area “Renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy security” is to improve energy security and to reduce energy poverty in municipalities. This objective is expected to be achieved by using local biomass to produce a fuel intended for energy poor households  and replacing the social assistance offered to these households in the form of a coal fuel by a fuel in the form of pellets which will be produced out of locally available agricultural and forestry biomass.

Priority shall be given to pilot and innovative projects , implemented in municipalities with a high rate of energy poverty and having a high local potential understood as an access to an energy raw material in the form of agricultural and forestry biomass, enabling continued fuel supply.

The implementation of projects shall contribute to the greatest possible reduction of CO2 emissions, while, at the same time, achieving the highest energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness indicators.

The conditions for the implementation of a project shall include:

•            the replacement of individual heat sources on the residents’ premises using a fuel in the form of pellets by facilities designed for its combustion, holding a certificate of at least of emissivity class 5 – an action implemented outside of the project;

•            the free of charge transfer of the fuel produced in the form of pellets to energy poor households.

2.           Type of projects

Projects eligible for co-financing shall include those that consist in the launch of pellet production, including (among others):

•            the purchase of an installation producing a fuel in the form of pellets from local agricultural and forestry biomass;

•            the purchase of equipment necessary for the pre-treatment/preparation of agricultural and forestry biomass for pellet production;

•            the construction of premises intended for storing and drying of the raw material for pellet production;

•            the construction of premises intended for storing of pellets;

•            the construction of premises intended for roofing of the installation and securing of the production.

The eligible costs may include costs constituting the expenditures necessary for the launch of pellet production, including the necessary infrastructure. The construction or modernisation of energy sources powering the installation for pellet production are excluded from co-financing.

It is recommended that the scope of a project should include education and training activities regarding air and climate protection, particularly, those concerning pollutants generated by individual energy sources, implemented complimentarily to investment actions.

In addition, the scope of a project may also include the purchase and installation of lighting used to illuminate the pellet production sites powered by renewable energy sources.

As part of the call for proposals, there are two options for applicant to submit the application.

The option shall be selected by the applicant at the stage of submitting a project concept note in the Grant Application Generator(GAG).

- Option 1 – a project in the case of which during the exploitation phase the whole quantity of the fuel produced in the form of pellets is planned to be transferred free of charge to energy poor households, while the possibly arising surplus may not exceed 20% of the production and may only be used for the implementation of the own tasks of a territorial government unit which are not related to any commercial activity.  A grant to such projects shall not constitute state aid and may, therefore, reach the maximum grant rate - 80% of eligible costs.

More information can be found below in the announcement of Call for Aapplication