Home
Internal
published on 1st September 2022
The energy crisis as well as the implementation of the climate policy - these are the two factors that cause Poland to be more and more interested in investing in geothermal energy. Until now, geothermal energy has been an example of one of the most rarely used types of renewable energy, despite the potential for the development of such facilities that exists in Poland. Increasingly, however, geothermal energy is attracting the interest of public entities that have recognized the potential of such investments for ensuring Poland's energy security.
Geothermal energy in Poland is currently an example of a fallow investment field, although natural conditions favor the use of this type of energy. The share of geothermal energy in the structure of renewable energy production is 0.3%, the lowest among all carriers of this energy, and it changes little, although geothermal sources are well developed. It is important to note that the requirements resulting from the state plan for the development of renewable energy sources have not been met so far. This plan foresaw that the use of geothermal energy should have reached a capacity of 4814 TJ in 2020. In fact, only 1073 TJ have been achieved. The reason for this huge gap between expected and actual utilization is the still small number of geothermal plants in Poland. So far, only a few such plants with an estimated capacity of about 75 MW could be built. For comparison, the total potential of all geothermal plants for heat generation in Europe is given as 5500 MW. Thus, in the case of Poland, one can speak of an unexploited development potential of this energy sector
Despite the low use of geothermal energy in Poland, the investment prospects in this field seem to be improving. In this context, it is worth recalling the significant expenditures made to identify geothermal sources. Around mid-2020, the State Geological Institute prepared preliminary technical-economic studies for 11 selected localities, which may serve as a basis for future geothermal projects.
Another important element was the "Long-term program of geothermal resources development in Poland" issued by the Ministry of Climate and Environment in May 2022, which presents a roadmap for geothermal energy development until 2040 with a perspective until 2050. The document consists of nine points dealing with the potential of near-surface geothermal energy as well as low-, medium-, and high-temperature geothermal energy, energy storage, minimizing investment risk, and proposed legislative changes. It also addresses funding and task coordination issues.
The cost of implementing the program by 2050 was estimated at over PLN 49 billion. The funds for the subsidy, which will come from the state budget, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (Narodowy Fundusz Ochrony Środowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej), the National Research and Development Center (Narodowy Centrum Badań i Rozwoju), the Bank for Environmental Protection (Bank Ochrony Środowiska), the National Plan for Reconstruction (Krajowy Planu Odbudowy) and other foreign funds are expected to exceed PLN 12 billion. PLN.
Independently of the above program, in recent years there has also been the nationwide support program "Polska Geotermia Plus" ("Polish Geothermal Plus") with a total budget of PLN 600 million (over EUR 130.4 million), consisting of equal parts of grants and loans. The target group of this program is entrepreneurs. Although no applications for grants under this program are currently being accepted, it is very likely that this program will be relaunched by the NFOŚiGW. It would open the possibility of co-financing investments from public funds in the following areas:
You have a question?
Please do not hesitate to contact us.
Help us fight spam.
*
E|nEws September 2022
Monika Behrens
Partner
Send inquiry
Jakub Plebański