From February 1, 2023 to December 13, 2024, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management conducts the fourth call for proposals under the "Energy Plus" priority program, the purpose of which is to reduce the negative impact of enterprises on the environment, including improving air quality by supporting investment projects.

The beneficiaries are entrepreneurs within the meaning of the Act of March 6, 2018. Entrepreneurs' Law conducting business activity.

The co-financing will be granted in the form of a loan, in accordance with the priority program "Energy Plus". The amount of allocation for co-financing in the form of a loan is 566.931 million PLN.

Types of projects eligible for support:

• Reducing the consumption of primary raw materials

Under the measure, the following projects will be supported: on the construction, extension or modernization of existing production installations or industrial equipment, leading to a reduction in the consumption of primary raw materials (as part of own production lines), including by replacing them with secondary raw materials, waste or leading to a reduction in the amount of generated waste, including, among others:

1. Waste-free technologies (TBO) and low-waste production technologies ensuring the most comprehensive use of the raw materials used;

2. Technologies limiting the unit consumption of water in production processes or systems of closed water circuits;

3. Technologies for the production of materials using by-products of combustion/manufacturing processes or waste generated by the applicant;

4. Recovery installations from production processes, e.g. non-ferrous metals, chemicals, oils and fuels and pulps;

5. Technologies for the production of alternative fuels and substrates for their production from biological waste, including sludge;

6. Modernization of the water demineralization and decarbonization station (if it is necessary for the implementation of the investment generating the ecological effect).

Reducing the consumption of primary raw materials is understood as increasing the efficiency of the production process or partial replacement of primary raw materials with secondary raw materials.

Qualification to this scope is possible after meeting one of the following conditions:

1. Reduction of primary raw material consumption per unit of final production (Mg/production unit or m3/production unit) - not less than 5%

or/and

2. Reduction of water consumption per unit of final production (m3/production unit) - not less than 5%

• Reducing or avoiding harmful emissions into the atmosphere

1. Reducing or avoiding harmful emissions into the atmosphere for fuel combustion sources with a capacity of 1 MW - 50 MW

The measure will support projects leading to the reduction of harmful emissions into the atmosphere from combustion plants indicated in Directive (EU) 2015/2193 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015. on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from medium combustion plants (hereinafter referred to as the MCP Directive) at least to the emission standards resulting from this directive.

2. Reducing or avoiding harmful emissions to the atmosphere for fuel combustion sources with a capacity of more than 50 MW

The measure will support projects aimed at improving air quality by reducing emissions from fuel combustion sources with a total fuel capacity of more than 50 MW, at least to the national emission standards for installations of such capacity or levels resulting from BAT conclusions, if they are specified for these sources, including e.g.: modernization of equipment or equipping fuel combustion installations with devices or installations to reduce emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants.

A combustion source is understood as a stationary technical device in which the combustion of fuels with a fuel capacity greater than 1 MW takes place.

3. Reducing or avoiding harmful emissions to the atmosphere from industrial activities (excluding fuel combustion sources)

The measure will support projects aimed at improving air quality by reducing emissions to the atmosphere from industrial activities (not directly related to fuel combustion sources). Within this scope, projects are financed aimed at reducing the amount of emissions of certain substances harmful to human health and life into the atmosphere, in particular to the levels specified in national or Community regulations and in BAT reference documents, e.g. modernization or replacement of electrostatic precipitators, dust collection systems and installations.

The environmental effect of the measure is the reduction of the emission of at least one pollutant specific to a given industrial technology.

• Projects in accordance with the "Announcement of the Minister of Energy of November 23, 2016 on a detailed list of projects aimed at improving energy efficiency" aimed at improving energy efficiency, as well as technological changes in existing facilities, installations and technical devices aimed at this, with the exception of:

- sec. 3, pt. 2) letter c) i.e. modernization or replacement of equipment used to transport products and semi-finished products as part of the technological process (e.g. forklift trucks, technological haulers or goods cranes);

- sec. 3, pt. 5) i.e. household appliances (e.g. washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, cookers or ovens); ¾

- sec. 3, pt. 6) vehicles used for road or rail transport.

Is not eligible for support for projects involving the modernization of an existing fuel combustion source without changing the fuel to less emission gaseous, gas mixtures, synthetic gas or hydrogen.

Qualification to this scope is possible after meeting all of the following conditions:

1. Submission of an application to the program - Increasing energy efficiency is conditioned by the prior performance of an energy audit (performed in accordance with the Recommendations for the preparation of an energy audit posted on the website of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management), in at least one of the following areas:

a) Energy audits of industrial buildings

b) Energy audits of internal heating networks

c) Energy audits of heat, electricity and cooling sources

d) Energy audits of technological processes

e) Electricity audits - optimization of electricity consumption in buildings, installations and internal transmission networks

2. The investment project covered by the co-financing must result from the recommendation of the energy audit (verified by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management at the stage of evaluating applications for co-financing, and energy savings are to be no less than 5%).

• New sources of heat and electricity

Projects related to the construction or reconstruction of generating units, including their connection to the distribution/transmission grid, in which the following are used to produce energy:

a) energy from renewable sources,

b) waste heat,

c) heat from cogeneration, excluding heat generated in a coal-fired cogeneration unit,

d) low carbon gaseous fuels, gas mixtures, synthetic gas or hydrogen.

The condition for granting support for the energy storage is its integration with the energy source, which will be implemented in parallel as part of the project.

The group of projects excludes:

– investments involving the use of installations for thermal treatment of municipal waste, excluding the use of screen overflow (code 19 12 12 and 19 12 10),

– investments involving the use of energy from geothermal sources,

– investments in heat/cold generating units, which will ultimately use fuel with a higher emission index than the one used so far.

The condition for supporting investments using the so-called the oversize fraction (codes 19 12 12 and 19 12 10) coming from the processing of municipal waste will be included in the investment plans for municipal waste management agreed by the Minister competent for waste management (voivodship waste management plans).

As part of the projects, it is allowed to use only new devices, manufactured not earlier than 24 months before installation.

• Modernization/expansion of heating networks

1. Reconstruction of existing heating systems and cooling networks in order to reduce transmission and distribution losses;

2. Construction of connections to existing buildings and installation of individual nodes resulting in the liquidation of group nodes. The installation of individual substations includes central heating (CH) modules or central heating (CO) and hot water (DHW) modules;

3. Construction of new sections of the heat network with connections and heating nodes in order to eliminate the existing local solid fuel-fired heat sources or to connect new customers;

4. Connecting buildings to the heating network aimed at eliminating individual and collective sources of low emission.

5. Construction of new sections of the heating network for the purpose of connecting power generation units to the system.

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